Salmon Stream

The rivers of Vancouver Island are birth rivers for one particular creature – the Pacific Salmon. Every fall, thousands of island school children make their way to a local river to be taught the cycle of life of the salmon. It is a rite of passage, and one I still remember.

Now as an adult I appreciate more the difficult and amazing journey the salmon make. I also appreciate the work of local volunteer groups to make sure our rivers are clean enough for the salmon to return and spawn.

Walking a salmon spawning river in the late fall is an experience for all the senses. You can see the large fish swimming up the river, sometimes in water so shallow their fins stick out above the water line. You can hear the splashes as they work their way against a current and through the rocks and ripples. But most of all, you can smell the rich scent of decay, as the dying bodies of salmon, spent with spawning, litter the banks and shallows of the river. It is an immersion into nature at its most complete.

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