By Yums Cleary, Bournemouth University

The springtime SAMARCH smolt run is a great placement and I highly recommend it. I returned for a short stint again this year. Smolt migrate to sea in springtime, generally under the cover of darkness and preferentially in fast-flowing water after the environmental cue of rainfall. After a dry April, however, water levels in the River Frome were low under a thin new moon, and the smolt numbers were correspondingly low but steady. I had forgotten how beautiful smolt are; small and bright and brave as they race seawards on their life-adventure.

Post-Covid-19 and the madness of world news in 2022, it was reassuring to see the uninterrupted rhythm of nature.