Record salmon run hits British Columbia

Something incredible is happening in BC right now: Salmon are returning home in record numbers. As many as 25 million sockeye are estimated to be migrating just one year after last year’s record low run of 1.7 million.

I was in British Columbia last weekend for a family reunion, and we camped along the banks of a tributary of the Fraser River. We didn’t see any salmon in the river. The next morning we went for a hike downstream and found this unbelievable rapids, and all the salmon were on the downstream side of it. Not one salmon could make it through. It rained all that night. We returned to the rapid with my video camera the next day, and discovered that with the extra water in the river, the salmon were on the move and a few of the strongest ones were able to make it.

It really is quite a spectacle to see these huge fish coming home. I cut together a one-minute film with highlights. Enjoy.

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