When we first shared news that we planned to stock sterile walleye into Red Fleet Reservoir, we got some confused looks. Most were wondering a couple things: 1) Why would you want to make walleye sterile? 2) How do you make walleye sterile? I'm hoping to help answer these questions in this post.
Pelicans are pretty easy to spot. They are large, weigh 10–20 pounds and have a wingspan of 8–10 feet. They are white with a long neck and a massive, orange bill. You can often see them by the hundreds either swimming, fishing or soaring. They can soar for what seems like forever, on long, broad white and black wings.
Many people enjoy birding activities during the fall migration period in Utah. Songbirds, hawks, waterbirds and waterfowl travel through the state, especially the areas near the Great Salt Lake and its wetlands.
The discovery in 2012 of adult quagga mussels in Lake Powell has heightened our concern for other reservoirs around our state — especially large reservoirs visited often by boaters.
The day had finally arrived. After several years of listening to stories from co-workers who had made the trip, it was my turn to accompany the Great Salt Lake Ecosystem Program biologists on their annual trip to Gunnison Island for the pelican roundup. Biologists capture the flightless, young pelicans and outfit them with a leg band and wing markers to aid field identification of pelicans after they reach maturity and go their separate ways.