There are two species of forage fish that spawn in the intertidal on sandy beaches in the Salish Sea. Pacific sand lance tends to spawn in the winter months, late October through mid-February, and Surf smelt may be found all year long. We complete surveys by collecting 4 liters of sand, processing the sediments to reduce the volume and then take a small sample back to the lab to scan for eggs. These surveys take approximately 1.5 hours in the field and anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours to process on the microscope. If you would like to get involved or would like more information, please contact Jenn at jenn@loonfoundtaion.org.