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2005.10.16 - A Look at the Issaquah Salmon Run |
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We went to the Hatchery in downtown Issaquah after church... the run is
about over, and its fun to watch the fish swim up the river and into the
hatchery. No matter how many times I see it, I'm amazed that the
salmon return year after year, and struggle so mightily to get up the
river, and return to their home: the hatchery. Its so incredible
and so mind boggling! Especially when you remember that its all
based on smell. They follow the sent trail of the stream back to
where they were born -- its just incredible. |
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There's a fish dam to keep the fish from swimming up the river to where
the hatchery gets its water for the tanks... there's gates to let them
in the hatchery, but when its full, as it was when we were there, they
close them, and the waiting fish try and jump over the dam. |
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Some make it, but most simply fall back into the stream, rest up, and try
again. You feel almost sorry for them in a way... |
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Down from the dam, fish work their way up stream, often swimming in water
that is shallower than their size, and they swim half out of the water. |
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Some fish don't make it, and become food for birds, other fish, animals...
the list is quite long. The death of the fish provides for life in
the streams and creeks that otherwise have no source of food... Some
pair up below the dam, and spawn in the shallows there.... |
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Its interesting to watch as the reddish males jockey for the right to be
the one to carry on the species while the female digs a 'nest' in the
gravel. Those that make it to the hatchery are held in the tanks, and
after being gawked at for a few days, are brought into the spawning
rooms, where the eggs for next year are fertilized, and cared for by the
hatchery. |
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