There are hundreds of new faces at Oak Harbor Elementary School that can be found in a tank located next to the school’s office.

That tank is full of alevin, recently-hatched salmon eggs, and students are caring for them until they are big enough to release into a stream.

“These were all eggs not more than a week ago,” said Erica Bailey, a fourth-grade teacher at Oak Harbor Elementary, who teaches one of the three fourth-grade classes that are teaming up to study the salmon.

The tank is located in the hallway, where students can quietly watch the alevin as they squiggle around. The kids are anxious to watch them grow in the coming weeks.

As for feeding the little fish, students don’t have to do much at the earliest stage of their life.

“They’re kind of caring for themselves right now,” said fourth-grader Kellen Mebane. He said classmates will have to start feeding them when they lose their egg sacks.

Fellow fourth-grader Dylan Cribb said the salmon need clean and cool water to thrive. Students also have to be quiet when walking by the tank.

Teachers hope the salmon will be big enough to release to a stream on Fidalgo Island in May.

The project allows students to learn about the salmon life cycle, the water conditions needed for salmon to thrive and how to properly monitor such conditions.

The students are also writing journals and producing a poster showing a salmon’s life cycle.

Teacher Tricia Hart has been working on the salmon project for a year-and-a-half. It took a bit of planning for the salmon project to happen. Teachers worked with an interpretive specialist from Deception Pass State Park to research area streams and to find the equipment needed for the project. Oak Harbor Elementary School adopted the state park and classes undertake numerous education projects throughout the school year there.

It turned out Indian Creek on Fidalgo Island was suitable to release salmon. Since the stream is located on private property Hart needed the owner’s permission to release the salmon, and she also needed an OK from the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, which supplied the salmon eggs.

Brian Knoll, of Island Pet Center, built the tank and gave pointers for raising salmon. Tony Silviera, from the school district’s maintenance department, built the cabinet for the tank. The school also received an $800 grant from the Oak Harbor Education Foundation.

Hart said the alevin will be released after they grow a couple of centimeters and become fry.

Once released she said the salmon will remain at Indian Creek for about a year. That way they can remember it so they have a place to come back to spawn.

Hart said she plans to continue the salmon project next year.