After being saved from near-certain extinction last summer and overwintering in the expert care of biologists at the Tennessee Aquarium, more than 230 critically endangered Laurel Dace are finally back where they belong.
Last July, a prolonged regional drought caused many Southeast Tennessee streams to dwindle and, in some cases, dry up entirely. Atop Walden Ridge north of Chattanooga, water flow ceased at Bumbee Creek and Youngs Creek, the last sites known to support populations of Laurel Dace.
When conditions in these rapidly disappearing waterways reached a tipping point, the Aquarium led a series of emergency rescue operations to save as many of these red-bellied, highlighter yellow-finned minnows as possible.In coordination with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and with assistance from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the University of Georgia, about 300 Laurel Dace — the majority left on the planet — were relocated into the safety of human care at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga and Wolf Creek National Fish Hatchery in Jamestown, Kentucky.
According to the most recent report from the USDA’s U.S. Drought Monitor, much of Southeast Tennessee is still experiencing moderate drought conditions. However, a slightly wetter-than-average February made it safe to return these rescued minnows to the wild.
“Today is really a day of hope and optimism,” Tennessee Aquarium Vice President of Conservation Science and Education Dr. Anna George said on Tuesday. “We have water running back in the creek. We have fish that thrived in our care at the Tennessee Aquarium.
“We had a chance to rescue these fish and safeguard them. Now, here we are getting to release them back into the wild.”
A caravan of aquarium biologists and aquarists escorted the homeward-bound Laurel Dace from Chattanooga back to Bumbee Creek along perilously rutted dirt roads winding deep into a sprawling private timberland. The Aquarium’s team was met by representatives from Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who assisted with last summer’s rescue and the recent reintroduction.
While waiting for the fish to acclimate to conditions at Bumbee Creek, George looked out from the cobbled bank at the stream, where abundant 50-degree water was once again burbling underneath the outstretched limbs of winter-bare trees.
“It's kind of amazing how much things can change in six months,” she observed. “Last summer, this just did not look like a beautiful mountain stream. It didn't look like a place where a critically endangered minnow was going to survive for much longer.
“‘Despair’ is not too strong a word to use for how we felt then.”
With water flow restored and after months of attentive care by biologists, the Laurel Dace were in prime shape for their homecoming, says Jason Miller, the assistant chief of Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency’s biodiversity division.
“They looked ready to go back in the wild,” he says. “Today is a happy ending. I mean, those fish survived. If it wasn't for the Aquarium and others coming out here to rescue them and hold them, we wouldn't have had today. It’s very satisfying to see these fish back in this creek.”
The impact of the drought may have spurred scientists to rescue the Laurel Dace, but the species still faces other significant threats to its survival.
As recently as 2012, the Laurel Dace was still found in five streams on Walden Ridge. After more than a decade of rampant habitat degradation, however, its range is now confined to Bumbee Creek and Youngs Creek.
Trying to survive without water is hard enough, but even when the weather cooperates, the Laurel Dace has to contend with issues like runoff chemicals and dirt from nearby fields and competition with predatory invasive species. Scientists have even identified an infestation of parasites plaguing the fish in Youngs Creek.
As a consequence of these numerous, persistent threats, scientists consider the Laurel Dace to be one of the top 10 most-imperiled fish in North America.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service first identified Laurel Dace as potentially needing protection under the Endangered Species Act in the early 2000s. In 2007, the Service posted notice that it was elevating the Laurel Dace to candidate status for inclusion on the list. Four years later, it was officially designated as endangered, and all remaining Laurel Dace populations have been closely monitored by the Aquarium, the Service, and other partners ever since.
Combined with a release of the fish in the care of the Wolf Creek National Fish Hatchery earlier this month, almost all fish rescued from Bumbee Creek are now back in the wild. About 30 adults will remain in human care at the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute to serve as an assurance or “ark” population. These individuals and their offspring will continue to be cared for so that the Laurel Dace will survive, even if events lead to the species’ extinction in the wild.
The Laurel Dace indisputably can use a helping hand, and in the residents of nearby Spring City, Tennessee, it has found several thousand extended in support. With city limits that run up against the range of the Laurel Dace, the community has rallied around their critically endangered neighbor and will soon serve as hosts to the first Laurel Dace Day festival on Saturday, May 17.
This all-day celebration in the Spring City Nature Park will feature a packed schedule of activities, including a farmer’s market, local artists and craftspeople, food and drink vendors, musical performances and a 5K race and half-mile fun run.
“It's really been interesting to see how Spring City has embraced the Laurel Dace,” says Melanie King, the Aquarium’s vice president and chief development officer. “Being aware that this beautiful fish was right there in the waters around them — I think there's a great sense of community pride around that.”
Since last summer’s rescues, many donors have responded with pledges of support for the Aquarium’s ongoing work with the Laurel Dace. As the Aquarium continues its conservation efforts, this assistance will fund husbandry needs, genetics research, and a study of the parasite impacting the Youngs Creek population.
“The fact that so many people came forward to help us with the Laurel Dace lets us know that what we're doing is valid,” King says. “Our donors trust us; our members trust us; the community trusts us. They know that we are the right people for the job.
“We always say, ‘If not the Tennessee Aquarium, then who? Who's going to do this?’ That's us. That's what we do.”
To learn more about the Aquarium’s ongoing work with the Laurel Dace or to make a donation in support of those efforts, visit tnaqua.org/donate/race-for-the-laurel-dace/