Ipswich River Herring
Where's Phil (#74)?
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The alewife Phil is named after Phillips Brady of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, New Bedford. Phil was collected from the Nemasket River on April 30, and transported to the Salem Road stocking site along the Ipswich River. He was last seen by the stationary receiver at Site 1 on May 5.
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Updated 7/09/07
April 30, 12:45 pm: Phil is collected at the Nemasket River in Middleborough, tagged, and placed in a stocking truck with 625 other fish. After an hour and a half long drive, Phil is stocked into the Ipswich River. After stocking, we don't immediately see Phil. The first day of May goes by and there's no sign of Phil...
May 2, 2:36 am: Phil is finally heard from by the receiver at Site 7. Phil wasn't heard by the receiver at Site 8, perhaps due to high water that allowed Phil to get past undetected. Phil is swimming quickly and isn't heard at Site 7 for very long.
May 3, 5:14 am: Phil is heard by the upstream antenna at Site 6, at the Willowdale Dam. Phil stays in this upstream area about 2 hours, then dissapears out of range for nearly 12 hours. Returning again to the Site 6 receiver at 7:30pm, Phil stays overnight in range, heading out of the area at 12:16 the next morning.
May 4, 12:37 am: Phil has made his way downstream quickly, and reaches a swift and narrow part of the river at Site 5 in about 20 minutes.
May 4, 12:01 pm: Due to power failure at Site 4, and high water at Site 3 allowing Phil to swim in areas beyond the range of the receiver, Phil is next hear by the receiver at Site 2, near the Ipswich Mills Dam. He stays in this area for over an hour and a half, then turns and heads back upstream.
May 4, 3:42 pm: Phil sticks to the main channel and is heard by the receiver at Site 3. He stays upstream in this receiver's range for nearly an hour.
May 4, 5:12 pm: Returning back downstream for a bit, Phil is picked up by the receiver at Site 2. He doesn't stay as long this time, but does head back upstream.
May 4, 11;13 pm: It's late at night when Phil arrives at the Site 3 receiver, and he doesn't stick around long: in ten minutes, Phil is headed back downstream.
May 5, 12:12 am: This time Phil isn't turning back; he arrives at the Site 2 receiver and descends past the Ipswich Mills Dam. In less than 15 minutes, Phil is headed further downstream.
May 5, 12:38 am: Phil reaches our furthest downstream antenna at Site 1. He doesn't pass by too quickly, and stays in range for nearly an hour. The last time we hear from Phil at a stationary receiver is here at Site 1, at 1:20 in the morning.