My video today.
The Salmon Run by Abe Lope
The journey upstream,
A chance to deliver life;
Swimming to their death.
We drove out to the Coleman Fish Hatchery this morning, for the annual Return of the Salmon Festival. Like clockwork, the Adult Chinook salmon begin returning to Battle Creek in September and large numbers of salmon are gathered at the barrier weir by late September and early October. The best time for adult salmon viewing is typically the month of October and is when they hold their festival. This is the first time since 2019.
The Return
These salmon are returning to where they were started. Following the scent of their home stream water, after being out in the ocean for 2-3 years, their instincts know where to go; their place of birth - this is their final act to propagate the species.
During the migration, the salmon consumes no food. They depend on their stored body fat reserves. Their flesh is red due to the krill they eat and this pigment moves to the skin where they absorb their scales as the flesh turns white.
Imagine enduring the struggle upstream - over waterfalls, up rapids and past man-made barriers and structures, let alone predators. For centuries the Native Americans ancestral heritage fished salmon for sustenance, And traditions believed all living things were once people. To them, the Salmon Symbolizes Determination, renewal, and prosperity.
The females in a frenzy, sweep their tails to make beds; While males await excitedly defending their mates. Ready to move in between them and the nest; For fertilizing the eggs that are about to be laid.
It is a sight that can be seen throughout the rivers and tributaries now.
| The "teens" will be released in April and then in 2-3 years, make their way back to where they were born. |
The juveniles remain in the freshwater until mature, Then swim out into the ocean for two to three years, before returning to repeat the cycle.
