Just a few hundred feet south of the Fauntleroy Ferry Dock the Fauntleroy Creek empties into Puget Sound. And every year between Halloween and Thanksgiving coho salmon attempt to swim up the picturesque, leaf-canopied creek, an obstacle course of rocks, logs, and native plants. A dedicated team called the Fauntleroy Watershed Council keep an eye on the creek and the coho, and count the fish. So far this season about 20 coho have been spotted since Nov. 8. There were just two counted last year, 90 three years ago.

“More fish are spotted when the tides are high, and with a lot of rain the creek goes up fast, which could push more fish up there,” said area resident Dennis Hinton, a volunteer at the creek for10 years since the council began. “You never know about ocean conditions, blockage on the creek, and whales,” he said. “About three weeks ago two pods of killer whales came by and ate a lot of fish.”
Hinton is an avid fly-fisherman and loves all things fish related. The retired ad-man coined the term “What’s Beneath the Surface” for a publicity campaign for the Seattle Aquarium.

Environmental activist Judy Pickens is project manager for the Fauntleroy Watershed Council. She is known in the area for her book, “Guided By the Light, Fauntleroy Church at the Centennial Milepost” she researched and wrote with her husband, Phillip Sweetland.

“Some coho could have originated in the creek,” said Pickens. “Some are likely hatchery-release fish. All of them have decided that Fauntlery Creek provides a suitable habitat for their spawning.”

Joining Pickens and Hinton on the council are Randy Sleight, and biologist, Steev Ward.
Ward studies coho carcasses he finds there to examine for diseases and “pre-spawning mortality.”

Much of this spawning activity is in Picken’s own backyard, literally, as the creek defines the southern border of the rear of her property. There are paths and small wooden footbridges that run along and over the creek. On a wall along Pickens’ front porch hangs a folksy array of clipboards holding maps and “observation forms” for the public to count coho and write down observations of fish behavior as some people access the creek through her property.

Through her organization's stewardship of the "Reach the Beach” project, Earthcorps workers chopped tree stumps and cleared debris near the new mouth of Fauntleroy Creek two years ago.

To contact Judy Pickens for more information, call her at (206) 938-4203 as she hosts public tours and talks, again, in her own backyard.