Fall Salmon are Returning to Our local Streams!
November is the month when two species of Pacific Salmon return to the streams of their birth. After spending years out in the Pacific Ocean they find their way home to the precise tributary of their natal creek. This amazing homing instinct is the the final chapter in the lives of these fish...after they spawn, their bodies deteriorating in zombie-like fashion, they will die and their carcasses will be utilized by numerous other animals for food. The species pictured here are Chum Salmon; the location is Piper's Creek in Carkeek Park in north Seattle. You can view them now through most of December! Behaviors you can observe are: mate selection and pair bonding, excavation of their nests known as Redds, and perhaps if you are lucky, egg laying and milt fertilization. As you watch this annual ritual, ponder the fact that these salmon have been repeating this life cycle for tens of thousands of years! After hatching as alevin, growing into fry, then developing the characterist