To the Editor:
The second big event in the life of an alewife is underway here in Bremen. The young of the year (and some adults) are headed out to sea.
Muscongus Brook is teaming with life lately, as this is the second day I have noticed it full of 3-5″ long alewives. Every pool the adults hold up in during June are full of young today headed tail-first downstream.
As I was watching a school of small alewives this morning, an otter sprang out from the shore. It was hiding in the bank. After the flurry I could see the otter swim away underwater with its mouth full of silver.
This was a more productive year for young than I first feared.
At high tide yesterday evening I watched thousands of young alewife pour from the tea colored fresh water into the green salty harbor. A school had formed as far as I could see at the estuary. Knowing that perhaps only one percent of these fish will return to Muscongus in 2015 left me feeling like a worried parent.
David Wilkins
Bremen
