Yesterday, January 30th, the first ova hatched at the Dounby School and today over 20 alevins were counted!  There is no doubt that this is much earlier than in the other 3 schools running the same project. There is a significant difference in the mini-hatchery set-up at the Dounby School though: the tank has been placed in a cool cupboard inside the school and even though it is cooler than the rest of the school, the water temperature has been averaging 17°C (in comparison, the water temperature recorded at the Sanday mini-hatchery today was 4.7ºC). This much higher water temperature has had the effect of speeding up the hatching process. Last year, the first alevins appeared on Hoy on February 24th, nearly 4 weeks later! However, a high water temperature has a serious drawback as algae and fungus thrive much better in a warm environment. The figures, taken from http://trootinthecupboard.wordpress.com/ , show that so far about 100 ova have died and 21 have hatched successfully. Well done to the pupils and staff for hatching these ova in very challenging conditions!

Mr. P