Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon)
Here’s one angler you won’t find hanging around the
tackle shop, because even the best can’t rival the tiny-
but-mighty kingfisher. The blue-breasted bird waits
perched above the water before divebombing close to
the surface to spear prey with its sharp bill.
Great Blue Heron
(Ardea herodias)
The majestic (from the legs
up, anyway) oiseau fatale
stands in wait along the
shallows to snap up fish,
frogs, salamanders, turtles,
snakes, rodents, other birds,
or anything else unlucky
enough to meet its gaze.
Making
a Healthy River
When it comes to river health, the Ohio’s muddy
surface only tells part of the story. — S A M R O S E N S T I E L
With eight member states, the Ohio River
Valley Sanitation Commission (ORSAN-
CO) monitors water quality inside the 981-
mile river. About a dozen technical staff
use methods like electrofishing surveys,
fi sh tissue collection to record levels of
polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs); tools
like gas chromatograph units that alert for
volatile organic compounds to check for
spills; and 33 monitoring stations along the
river and its major tributaries that track
chemical levels.
If Cincinnati’s section of the river got
a report card, how would we score? OR-
SANCO Technical Director Jason Heath
says our area rates a “B” or “healthy con-
Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus)
The Ohio River Valley is on the edge of the majestic monarch’s spring
and summer breeding grounds, so you’ll find an abundance during the
warmer months. When cooler air arrives, you have a better chance of
spotting them at the Krohn Conservatory.
Asian Carp
Like otters, these invasive fish
can be river villains. The carp
edge out native species that
feed on plankton, and grass
carp, which cannot reproduce
and are mainly used in private
ponds for vegetation control,
can also spill into natural water-
ways and destroy native marine
plants. Silver carp have been
spotted leaping high above the
water—so boaters, beware.
dition” overall. The river gets high marks
for our drinking water, bacteria levels,
and recreation safety, but problem points
include the compounds in fish tissue.
“You can still eat the fish that contain
PCBs and dioxin, but maybe it’s only one
meal a month,” Heath says. Harmful algal
blooms, which can sap nutrients from na- federal dollars to combat pollution and
tive wildlife, have also become more fre- habitat destruction to make the entire
quent when the river is low, though Heath waterway a safer place for animals to live
says the last notable bloom event was in and people to use. What can you do for a
2019. What about forever chemicals? OR- cleaner river? Check out ORSANCO’s Ohio
SANCO monitors those, too, after finish- River Sweep program, which sends sup-
ing a baseline study last year. plies to events all along the river for trash
The commission works with the Ohio cleanup—about 5,000 volunteers pitched
River Basin Alliance to advocate for more in last year.
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I L LU S T R AT I O N S BY TO M C L O H O SY C O L E