Thursday, August 25, 2011

Friday My Town Shootout

High & Low is this week's theme.  We're in the Seattle, WA area this week.  Just so happens that we went to the Locks in Ballard, WA today!
Completed in 1917, the locks link the Puget Sound with Lake Union and Lake Washington.  Boats as large as 760 feet in length and as small as a kayak can travel through the locks.
I think there is a difference of maybe 18 feet between Union Lake & Peugot Sound. Look how close those boats are, waiting for the water level to go down!
Speaking of high & low:

The locks are also a critical link for salmon and steelhead heading upstream to spawn. A fish ladder with 21 steps or “weirs” allows spawning fish to climb to the freshwater side. Coho salmon going up the ladder!
For more FMTS photos, check out this site!  Have a great weekend!

7 comments:

  1. Great photos and very informational. I like
    QMM

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  2. First...great photos. This post reminds me of a man from our newspaper. He went fishing, caught himself a rather nice looking fish...took it home, cleaned it and stuck it in the freezer. "Knock-knock" on the door, one day....

    Apparently, he had caught a rare species of Salmon that seemingly was stuck with a transmitter in it's head so they could watch it's actions in the water. The man ended up having to go to court for that fish. Poor guy! He had no idea :(

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  3. These are awesome. Locks made me think how it was made, still amazes me to this day. Great photo!

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  4. I've never seen a real live working lock. Thanks for the photos.

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  5. Fascinating - I'm glad the salmon have their own way round!

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  6. great shots! similar to the Soo Locks here in Upper Michigan.

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