PWD's Lance Butler and Joe Perillo were working last week and found this very large striped bass. Pretty amazing to see aquatic life like this from a river that was once too polluted to support it. Lance had this to say:

"Being a PWD scientist for over 15 years, very little surprises me when I'm out in the field performing assessments, surveys, etc. I've had the rare opportunity to witness first-hand the trending resurgence of many aquatic species in the Schuylkill and Delaware drainages within and around Philly.

In short, fifteen years ago, if anyone said to me that there are 40"+ striped bass, thousands of river herring (blueback and Alewife) and Shad, and over 50+ species of fish in the lower Schuylkill, I would have probably said that they were lying. Today, that "myth" is reality and this picture is one that exemplifies this.

And although we face many issues, both legacy and future, with regards to our urban ecosystems (ranging from acute and chronic pollution events, invasive species introductions, climate change and sea level rise, etc.), I firmly believe that we (i.e., PWD and its partners) are on the correct path to improving the health and integrity of our aquatic resources."

PAC Member Chris Eife with a 30” Striped Bass caught on an A Salt Bomber Lure.

Philadelphians are often surprised to learn just how diverse the wildlife can be below the surface of the waters around our city. These recent catches by members of the Philadelphia Anglers Club are great examples of fish species that swim our rivers, right under your nose! These fish were released back into the wilds of the Schuylkill.

Chris at it again with a Flathead Catfish over 20 pounds!

And PAC Co-Founder Matt Coll with a 25 pound Carp caught on a piece of fake plastic corn.

Read more blog posts about local fishing:
Shad State of Affairs, Part Two: Swimming With Mackerel
Reel Good Time: Photos from the 2012 Philly Fun Fishing Fest
Northwest Passage: Fairmount Fish Ladder Helps Shad Swim Up The Schuylkill

And learn about Pennsylvania’s many fish species on the PA Fish & Boat Commission’s species gallery:

Image: Maryland Department of Natural Resources

Here's some advice for American shad (who are not a huge part of this blog's readership, but nonetheless): Beware of the striped bass, and stop hanging around mackerel. This week's excellent article by Sandy Bauers in the Philadelphia Inquirer—"Where Are The Delaware River Basin's Once-Legendary Shad?"—expands the conversation about shad and examines some reasons why the native fish aren't yet ascending the fish ladder at the Fairmount Dam on the Schuylkill by the hundreds of thousands each year (more than 3,000 passed through in 2011, part of an upward trend in recent years). It turns out there are other fish in the sea:

As a whole, the East Coast population of American shad is considered "depleted."

Scientists working to restore the shad are finding that everything is connected. Among the reams of charts and data sets is one showing that as striped bass numbers have increased, the population of shad - their juveniles often prey of striped bass - has fallen. The lines on the chart look like a big X.

In recent years, attention widened to what was happening offshore, where shad spend four to six years growing to maturity. It turned out that they school with Atlantic mackerel, then wind up snared in the nets of fishing trawlers.

If and when the shad return in great numbers, the fish will find improved water quality in the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers, dams removed and fish ladders built, including the one operated by the Philadelphia Water Department and the Army Corps of Engineers at Fairmount Dam.

Previously:

Life Aquatic: American Shad

We've Been Shad

Northwest Passage: Fairmount Fish Ladder Helps Shad Swim Up The Schuylkill

A Shad State of Affairs

Upstream Battle: Shad Ascend Schuylkill Past Phoenixville for First Time in Almost 200 Years

Photo: Rebecca Kennedy/Pennsylvania Environmental Council

The Philly Watersheds Blog is not in the habit of posting photos of baby animals for the sake of posting photos of baby animals (although it is Friday, and who among you would blame us?), and so we inform you that this red-bellied turtle hatchling was spotted earlier this week near the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge along the Delaware River. More specifically, the turtle was observed at Lardner's Point, a brand  new four-acre city park on the site of a former ferry terminal where a 2004 oil spill occurred. "More than just a pretty park on a pier," writes Sandy Bauers in an Inquirer article this week, "it is an ecological restoration that turned a concreted shoreline into a freshwater marsh, thick with plants and beneficial to wildlife."

As if to illustrate the point, this red-bellied turtle—a threatened species in Pennsylvania—showed up on the newly restored sandy beach. According to eyewitness accounts, the turtle had one eye, was feisty, and was last seen paddling back into the river. It's possible the turtle made his way across the river from the Palmyra Cove Nature Park in New Jersey, which has a red-bellied turtle population.

More photos below—happy Friday, everyone.