When I heard from Mr Cowan in Stromness Primary, that the first brown trout alevins had hatched over the week-end, I was worried that the building must have been too warm as the ova shouldn’t really hatch before a good week… However, this morning, as I was about to teach my S1/2 class who are in charge of the trout ova on Stronsay, they too, reported that hatching had started! The temperature of that tank kept in a shed on top of a windswept hill never rises above 7 degrees at this time of year and today, the thermometer indicated a chilly 6C.
It is sometimes difficult to notice but the temperatures for last November, December and January must have been warmer, prompting the ova to hatch more than two weeks earlier than last year (February 27th). However in 2014, our alevins did start hatching on February 10th… So, I would expect to hear from Hoy, Sanday and Orphir very shortly!
Troot in the Shed 