Conservation of Smelt in the River Thames.

In March I went to a training day to become a volunteer citizen scientist for the project, "Conservation of Smelt (Osmerus eperlanus) in the Tidal Thames. which is currently being run by the Zoological Society of London. My role is to carry out regular weekly surveying at our allocated site in Westminster. 

The project was given funding in order to locate the areas that Smelt are breeding in the Thames. The fish was once very common in the river but due to pollution and habitat destruction they disappeared, recently seeing a return due to improvements in water quality.  This project is necessary as the species is still threatened and is very important as an indicator of good estuary health as well as for a balanced ecosystem.

Myself and Charlotte surveying.

Our bag of equipment contains items such as a ruler,
charts for the identification of species and a magnifying glass.

Surveying is carried out at low tide, so we may also try and find any eggs or hiding elver under rocks in the water. So far we haven't found any Smelt fry or eggs, but they have been found at other locations being surveyed across the river such as Putney and Hammersmith. Unfortunatly it is beginning to look like our site isn't very attractive to fish!

We have however, found many snails, amphipods and worms! Often when we turn up there are some interesting visitors, such as these ducks which are usually seen swimming nearby or napping on the river bank before we come down and disturb them.

For more information on the project, feel free to visit: http://www.zsl.org/conservation/smelt-osmerus-eperlanus and the ZSL Twitter for updates.