Dyea in Skagway in Skagway Borough, Alaska — Northwest (North America)
Dolly Varden: Skagway River Regulars
Photographed by William Fischer, Jr., August 24, 2024
1. Dolly Varden: Skagway River Regulars Marker
Unlike their salmon cousins, Dolly Varden have the reproductive advantage of being able to spawn more than once. Cold water, gravel beds, and slow-moving side channels are excellent habitat for these fish.
GROWING IN GRAVEL
A Dolly's life cycle is closely tied to the river. They need gravel beds to make depressions called "redds" for their eggs. The cold water of the Skagway River slows egg development ensuring those deposited in the fall won't hatch before spring. Early hatching in winter would lower chances of survival. Dolly Varden fry hide from predators in the gravels of the river bottom.
CHANGING CHANNELS
Dolly fry stay in freshwater for three to four years after hatching. They feed on insects and small crustaceans before migrating to the ocean for the first time. Dolly Varden move in and out of freshwater throughout the year but typically overwinter in large rivers and lakes. At age five or six they return to their original streams to spawn. Dollies that survive migration and spawning overwinter in deep river channels or lakes. These survivors may spawn again.
SHARING THE SKAGWAY
Pink, chum and coho salmon
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[Top right illustration captions reads]
• Dolly Varden Salvelinus malma
A sea-run Dolly Varden is silvery, olive-green to brown on the dorsal surface with lots of pink, orange or red spots.
A mature male fish is brilliant red on the lower body surface and white along the leading edges of the lower fins.
Mature females are less brightly colored.
• Eulachon Thaleichthys pacificus
This oily little fish, also know[n] as hooligan or candlefish, can be burned like a candle when dried and fitted with a wick.
[Lower left period sheet music cover inset reads]
Dolly Varden
The Dollie's pink spots reminded a scientific party in the late 1800s of a dress style popular at the time, named after Dolly Varden, a character in a Charles Dickens novel.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Animals •
Photographed by William Fischer, Jr., August 24, 2024
2. Dolly Varden: Skagway River Regulars Marker Detail
Location. 59° 27.235′ N, 135° 19.664′ W. Marker is in Skagway, Alaska, in Skagway Borough. It is in Dyea. It is on Terminal Way. Marker is at the east end of the Skagway River footbridge leading to Yakutania Point, just west of the Skagway Airport terminal off State Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 2 Klondike Hwy, Skagway AK 99840, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is on the American Pacific Coast. Globally, it is in North America, on the Ring of Fire, on the Pacific Rim, in the Western Hemisphere, in the Western World, and in the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Russian Empire.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Fatal Duel (approx. ¼ mile away); Welcome to Pullen Creek (approx. ¼ mile away); Skagway's Shifting Shoreline (approx. ¼ mile away); Nature Always Succeeds! (approx. ¼ mile away); Gateway to the Interior (approx. 0.3 miles away); Avenue of Mountain Ash Trees (approx. 0.3 miles away); Ho, for the Klondike!
Photographed by William Fischer, Jr., August 24, 2024
3. Dolly Varden: Skagway River Regulars Marker
Photographed by William Fischer, Jr., August 24, 2024
4. View SW from Skagway River Pedestrian Bridge toward the Taiya Inlet Showing River's Gravel Base
Photographed by William Fischer, Jr., August 24, 2024
5. View NE from Skagway River Pedestrian Bridge Showing River's Gravel Base
Credits. This page was last revised on October 1, 2024. It was originally submitted on October 1, 2024, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio. This page has been viewed 156 times since then and 26 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on October 1, 2024, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio.
