TNACI (Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute) - sturgeon tagging 8/29/19

Thursday, August 28th we took a bus over to TNACI, on Baylor’s campus, during our meeting time.
When we got there, the employees were working on tagging young sturgeon.
It’s kind of like a microchip, only it goes through the tip of the sturgeon’s nose.

In order to do this, TNACI needed a group of sturgeon separated into a smaller container,
closer to the equipment. The sturgeon were being held in “racetracks,” separated by size.
Our job was to use little nets to move some of the bigger sturgeon into a smaller tub.

It was really cool! After that, we spent the rest of the time learning about the baby sturgeons, and
we got to pick some of them up. When the babies are hungry, they do this thing called
“porpoising,” where they come about have way out of the water! That was super cute to see.

With our last few minutes, we walked over to some of the other tanks to learn about some
different fish species, like trout. We got to feel the water and learned that trout need very
cold habitats in order to survive! The very last thing we did was learn about how they were
going to tag the sturgeon and what equipment they use.

Summer recap- Thursday, June 13

On our fourth morning of Tucker River Fellows, we almost immediately got on the bus

and rode over to TNACI (Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute) on the Baylor campus.

We toured the facility and were amazed by the many different fish, the sustainability of the building,

and the beauty of the surrounding environment.

The tour only made us more excited for our many visits that will occur in the fall. After the tour,

we hopped back on the bus and rode to a mill on South Chickamauga creek. We put on some very

rubbery waders and headed down to the creek. We were taught how to seine fish and then we got to

try it ourselves. We started out in the more mellow part of the creek where we caught lots of medium

sized fish and a few larger ones.

We then had our lunch break and then we headed down to the part of the creek with more current

and we caught lots of small fish.

Overall, we caught 26 different species of fish. After fishing, we took off our waders, got on the bus,

and headed over to Camp Jordan. There, we met a representative from South Chickamauga Greenway

Citizens Alliance. We learned about citizen concerns about potential flooding and the wetlands

affected by the proposed Red Wolves stadium near Camp Jordan.

Ocoee Dam and TVA archeology- summer recap - Wednesday, June 12

Wednesday morning, June 12, we began by meeting in the Tucker River Fellows room bright and early.

Mrs. Couch explained we had a long day ahead of us. Our first action was to leave for the
Ocoee Dam for a tour. On the bus ride most of us fell asleep but quickly woke up when we arrived
at the Dam. Our tour guide, Mike, greeted us with a warm smile and after a quick talk about the history
of the Dam, we put our hard hats on and some safety glasses. He explained to us that there are 3
Ocoee dams that work together to create power. 1 megawatt powers about 136 homes.

We headed down to the control station and looked around. Apparently, it used the be sugar mill!
We saw the new control center, the old control center, generators, and much more.

From there we found a playground and sat down at the picnic tables to eat lunch.
Soon, TVA Archeologists came to talk with us. They explained that no one can build on a lot without
archeologists like them making sure there are no important artifacts.

After this they provided us with materials to make little tribal masks.

After stopping at the playground for a quick slide down the slide we headed back to Chattanooga
were we debriefed and went home for the day.