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always for the community VOL 23, NO 11
November 2018
www.valleysentinel.com
SPOTLIGHT
Celebrate the opening of Walnut Creek on Ice’s 14th season with the Children’s Winter Festival Don’t miss the Children’s Winter Festival on Saturday, November 10, featuring discounted admission, live skating performances, Rocco’s pizza, hot chocolate, face painting, giveaways, a balloon artist and more. Children, families, and the young-at-heart can kick off the ice skating season. Walnut Creek on Ice welcomes
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Fall can be the most beautiful time to be out in the parks–not too hot, with stunning colors and views. A hike in nature can revive a tired mind and generate new ideas. This photo was taken from a trail in Briones Regional Park, using the Reliez Valley Road entrance. The smell of Bay Laurel and the joy of taking in the natural beauty of our hills and woodland areas is all encompassing as one goes further along the trail. Ahhh, heaven on earth.
The White Sturgeon
By James M. Hale
The White Sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) is the largest freshwater fish in North America, with the maximum recorded length of any age class at 20 feet. The maximum published weight known is 1,799 pounds, with a reported age of 104 years. White Sturgeon greater than 15 feet are suspected of reaching weights in excess of 3,000 pounds. I have canoed portions of the upper Sacramento River in my 18 foot long expedition canoe, with schools of White Sturgeon and individuals approaching 15 feet passing underneath me. The hydraulics generated by these magnificent, prehistoric giants made it difficult to navigate. The White Sturgeon is an anadromous fish that ranges throughout the Eastern Pacific, from the Gulf of Alaska to Monterey Bay, California.
Landlocked populations occur in Lake Shasta, Montana, and the Columbia River Drainage. Sightings of White Sturgeon have been reported in northern Baja California, Mexico. Ancestors of the White Sturgeon originated around 45.8 million years ago. The Amur (Acipenser schrenckii), which is found only in Asia is a close genetic relative. The White Sturgeon is part of a Pacific clade or group of species with a common ancestor. These species include the Green Sturgeon ( Ac i p e n s e r m e d i ro s t r i s ) , Sakhalin (Acipenser mikadoi), Chinese (Acipenser sinensis), Amur (Acipenser schrenckii), and Kaluga (Huso dauricus). The White Sturgeon is also commonly known as the Pacific Sturgeon, Sacramento Sturgeon, Oregon Sturgeon, Columbia
Sturgeon, and Snake River Sturgeon. The specific name is derived from the Latin acipenser (sturgeon), trans (beyond), and montanus (mountain). The White Sturgeon is a unique fish. Instead of scales, it has five rows of bony plates called scutes that reach from its gills to its tail, covering its sandpaper like skin. The upper, dorsal color ranges from gray to brownish. The ventral, belly color is paler. The fins are gray. Similar to sharks, the White Sturgeon has a cartilaginous skeleton and a shark-like tail. Unlike most other fishes, its
taste buds are located on the outside of its mouth. Barbels, which are feelers located under the sturgeon’s snout, help to locate potential food. A toothless, protrusible, siphonlike mouth sucks up the food once its located. Juvenile White Sturgeon, less than two feet in length, feed on amphipods (freshwater shrimp, scuds or sideswimmers), especially Corophium spp., mysids, isopods, benthic invertebrates, (which are community of organisms that live on, in, See STURGEON page 5
This month’s Special Section:
Senior Services
pages 7-9