Beachseine-underwater-composite

As in these examples below, the changing length distributions show the different life events of this annual forage fish

Beachseine-underwater-composite

(1) In spring, when water temperatures in the Cove rise above ~ 10C, the spawners return to the Cove from their deeper, more offshore overwintering habitats.

Beachseine-movie---spawners

(2) At the beginning of July, the new silverside cohort always starts to appear as 2-4 cm individuals in our beach seine.

Beachseine-underwater-composite

(3) In fall, catches are dominated by the growing new cohort - the so called young-of-year fish. They are still immature and remain in the Cove until water temperatures decrease below ~ 12C, the thermal growth threshold of this species. After that, most silversides leave the cove, but a few always stay behind ...

Beachseine-movie---spawners

(4) In winter, the Cove is almost void of silversides. The few individuals left behind disappear gradually and are mostly gone by the time the next spawner cohort returns in spring.

Now check out this animated graph of the past 4 years and 87 beach seine collections!

It displays length distributions, catch per unit effort, and temperature time series since October 2015
Beachseine-underwater-composite