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| Watching the salmon struggling |
Twenty-three Senior Trailblazers started out from the Senior Center on a walk to Maritime Heritage Park to see the salmon, and then off to Squalicum Harbor to visit the octopus and get a little exercise.
I wasn't sure what I was seeing when I looked over the creek's barrier at the roaring water, but I did make out a Great Blue Heron and some wiggling fish. It's hard to know what you're looking at without someone to point it out (at least to me). See the jumping and frantic little fish?
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| Heron and jumping fish |
We watched mesmerized for awhile, and then we spoke with a few volunteers who were there to deal with the spawning fish, most of which were looking very tattered and on their last fins, so to speak. It's what happens to them after they spawn. We were amazed at how many more were heading up the spawning channel. Students from BTC (Bellingham Technical College) were working to retrieve chum and strip the fish of their roe and milt before shipping the bodies to be processed into fertilizer. Some of the fish were huge, and the students said they are all six years old, having the instinct to return to where they started, at the end of their journey.
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| Really big guys |
There were many dead ones among the live ones, but all of them will soon die and be turned into fertilizer. After spending quite a bit of time watching the drama, we went off to the harbor and were treated to the sight of a big seal.
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| Big harbor seal, posing |
He was there looking quite regal, and after we had taken our fill of pictures, we headed back to the Senior Center. We walked somewhere around four or five miles, not far, and we spent a lot of time just watching the fish or the seal, rather than getting our heart rates up. No matter, it was a good day, and it didn't rain on us after all. I'm so glad I went.
:-)
That was an education! I thought the fishies just kept cycling back and forth, up and down the river until they were caught by the salmon industry. I've even seen the man-made upstream diversion trench on the Columbia River. Fishy fertilizer, eh? (Disclaimer: no salmon in Kansas.) Linda
ReplyDeleteThe salmon life cycle is pretty amazing when you think about it. It seems as though different spawning grounds get handled differently. I like the idea of recycling the bodies into fertilizer.
DeleteI am glad you enjoyed it. I do feel for the salmon, coming home to die, but I am glad that their bodies are not wasted.
ReplyDeleteOh wow! I didn't know you could watch a salmon run. Lucky you didn't see any grizzly bears--lol!
ReplyDeleteI would love to see a salmon run. I've seen runs on the prairies . It's fascinating to watch,
ReplyDeleteI've seen the salmon run in Alaska which was really interesting. My mom and aunt stood watching for the longest time totally enthralled by the experience. What a great hike you had!
ReplyDeleteI love water scenes and even have oil paintings of bays, lakes and the ocean hanging in my house.
ReplyDeleteI have seen spawning once, in Hope BC, and I am glad that I did. It was purely serendipitous too.
ReplyDeleteIsn’t it amazing that these fish have an instinctual behavior to return to spawn near their birth place exactly six years later?
ReplyDeleteGreat capture of the heron and the fish, Jan. What a treat for that heron…no work at all for it to fish there.
ReplyDeleteFun stuff! It is great that there are interesting things to see on your walk:)
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