Media Center
Transportation Today
News Releases
DOT Flix
Inside Transportation
Archives

Alerts
RPIN Breaking News
Road Alerts
My Commute

King Co. DOT
KCDOT Home Page
Metro Transit
Road Services
KC International Airport
Fleet Administration

You are in: Transportation > Transportation Today > DOT Flix > Transcripts

Metro Transit | Road Services | KC Int'l Airport | Fleet Services
 

Counting bugs

Watch this video clip (Real Media) Length: 2:32

Watch this video clip (Windows Media) Length: 2:32

<<Sounds of worker putting boots on>>

Narrator Says:

Strapping on boots this large would lead you to believe a big task needs doing.

Roads Division Supervising Ecologist Rob Fritz Says:

So what I’m going to do is, they sampled upstream last year, and hopefully there’ll be enough water this year to do it, It’s been a real dry summer so far.

Narrator Says:

But for Rob Fritz, a Supervising Ecologist with the Roads Division of the DOT, today’s task is actually a small one.

Roads Division Supervising Ecologist Rob Fritz Says:

So we’ll head down there and sample some bugs.

Narrator Says:

That’s right; he’s on a mission to look at bugs.

Roads Division Supervising Ecologist Rob Fritz Says:

(laughter) Catch me falling down this thing.

Narrator Says:

Rob walks down a steep embankment to a creek near White Center.

Roads Division Supervising Ecologist Rob Fritz Says:

But usually what I do is I string up a tape, and make sure I’m in the right location where they sampled last year.

Narrator Says:

It’s an annual task for the roads division, sampling creeks for bugs. It tells guys like Rob whether any pollution from the road is harming the life inside the water.

Roads Division Supervising Ecologist Rob Fritz Says:

Again, these creatures live in the stream all year round, so they’re exposed to any contaminants that might be in here, so they’re a good indicator of both biological diversity in the stream, they’re one of the main food sources for salmon that live in here.

What we do is set down this 1-ft. square section, in the stream and the net faces downstream, so you scrape the rocks off the bottom of the sub-straight, and the bugs kind of funnel into this.

So what I need to do is scrub the rocks and make sure I get all the bugs off, and usually when the creek’s higher it’s easier cause then you make sure all the bugs get in here, right now I’m going to have to do it in the net to make sure the bugs get in there. So usually do that for quite a while, then I take a big screw driver and stir around so I can actually get below what I can get with my fingers.

<<Sounds of opening canister>>

<<Sounds of rob pouring rocks into jar>>

Narrator Says:

At this point Rob takes his inventory. Pouring the water and rocks into a jar to see what the bugs look like. In this particular case . . .

Roads Division Supervising Ecologist Rob Fritz Says:

Boy I took you to not a very productive stream it looks like.

Narrator Says:

Rob says the lack of productivity probably means he’s come at the wrong time, and he’ll have to get another sample a different day.

So not many bugs at this particular stop, but samples from other creeks give us an idea of what he normally deals with.

<<Sounds of washing net>>

Narrator Says:

It’s a slimy job but in order to keep its permits current, the Roads Division must make sure human activity on the roads isn’t having too big an impact on the life that surrounds them, no matter how small that life might be.

Return to Dot Flix home page
 

Updated:  June 19, 2008

DOT Home
Metro | Planning | Roadways | Alternatives
Happenings | Airport | Site Map

King County | News | Services | Comments | Search