In the world of migratory fish, the plight of the salmon dominates the public’s attention and the research and recovery budgets of both federal and state wildlife agencies working in Southwest Washington.

Yet there’s another, albeit much less attractive and less studied, migratory fish struggling to re-establish itself in the Columbia River Basin. Now it appears the Pacific lamprey might have done so in the White Salmon River without any intervention from wildlife managers.

For the first time in more than 100 years, lamprey were found above the former site of Condit Dam, which was demolished in 2011. Scientists believe the larvae are the offspring of adults spawning in habitat that was once off-limits.

“It’s really exciting and it makes us all kind of smile,” said Jeff Jolley, a fish biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

This marks the second time lamprey have been found above a former dam site. Earlier this year, biologists found some above the onetime dam site on the Elwah River in Olympic National Park.