Lil’Drain Fish

Walking along I noticed this lil’ drain fish. Have you seen any in the ‘Ham? I’m sure there’s more than just this one, but this is the first time I’ve noticed. So do you know #whereintheham?

This particular guy is found at the South East corner of 10th ave south and 16th street situated just in front of the UAB parking deck beside Al’s.

It then got me wondering, what’s the fish there for anyway? As you can tell in the photo this drain “drains to waterways.” This is a storm drain which means it serves an emergency purpose of flushing excess water off the street. In such a situation the large volume of water has to go somewhere right? These drains route the water without filtration directly into our natural water systems. Hence the “no dumping.” Stormdrain runoff is the number one source of water pollution in the world. The fish has become a internationally recognized symbol indicating the presence of these drains. However not all drains come with built in demarcation, which is why several organizations have developed markers available for purchase in order to mark stormdrains in your neighborhood. Here’s an American company as well as a Canadian program, shoot here’s a New Zealand one if you want to dish out the shipping costs.

Furthermore, in looking up all these fun facts I stumbled across something truly strange indeed: sewer fishing. Apparently some guy out in Texas discovered that his stormdrain had water in it and dropped a fishing line down there. Ta-Da! He caught a fish.

So there you have it, the secret of the lil’ drain fish. Remember folks, no dumping. If you find another drain fish take a pic and post it to the social media with #whereintheham. Also, don’t forget to follow on facebook at Where in the Ham am I? and on Instagram @whereintheHam. Happy Hamming y’all!