KLAMATH FALLS – A new documentary, airing Feb. 7 on Southern Oregon Public Television, looks at the work of an Oregon Sea Grant-funded research effort to understand more about a lethal parasite that can infect wild salmon in the Klamath River and elsewhere in the Northwest.
Dr. Jerri Bartholomew, a microbiologist and director of Oregon State University’s salmon disease laboratory, has been studying Ceratomyxa shasta since she was an undergraduate. The parasite is a major cause of mortatlity in juvenile salmon, and may infect up to 80 percent of outmigrating juveniles in the Klamath River. Bartholomew’s work – much of it funded by Sea Grant – has led to new understanding of the parasite’s unusual life cycle, and how changes in water temperature and other environmental factors can cause it to proliferate.
The documentary, Saving Salmon, was scripted, directed and produced by Judith Jensen, director of Educational Solutions, a Klamath Falls nonprofit. Sea Grant videographer Steve Roberts contributed footage to the project, which is scheduled to air at 9 pm Feb. 7 on SOPTV.
Read more:
- Understanding the role of parasites in salmon mortality (.pdf)
- Dr. Bartholmew’s current research on Klamath River salmon
- Her latest Sea Grant-funded project: Modeling Myxozoan Disease in Pacific Salmon: Establishing Watershed Models for Predicting Effects of Climate Change
