Cootes Paradise is a marsh in Hamilton, Ontario. It is the only waterway that connects Lake Ontario to surrounding waterways in Hamilton. Ecologists at Cootes Paradise use a fishway to help stop invasive species and track fish migration through the marsh.
Explore the following video to learn more about this ecosystem!
ACTIVITY: COOTES PARADISE OVER TIME
Let’s look at how the health of Cootes Paradise has changed since the fishway was built. Using the graph from historical fish migration data, take a few minutes to explore the difference in invasive versus native fish that migrate into the marsh.
What do you notice about:
- the number of invasive fish and native fish over time?
- the total number of fish that are graphed?