Die to Give New Life: Salmon Spawning in the Adams River (Canada)

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-10 02:10

The key to the successful development of life on the planet is the constancy that reigns in nature. Surprisingly, every four years river adams, a tributary of the Fraser River in British Columbia (Canada) is literally teeming with fish that travel many kilometers. At the mouth of this river, about 10-15 million salmon spawn, and then die. Crowds of tourists come to see this, for whom special bridges, paths and observation platforms are equipped in the parks!

During spawning, individuals change color - from earthy gray they turn bright red. Each female lays about 3500 thousand pinkish eggs, then buries a hole with sand and gravel to protect future offspring from predators and birds. The newly born fry, obeying instincts, will later go on a long journey themselves: first to the Thompson River, then to the Fraser River, and finally to the Pacific Ocean. They will be destined to reach the shores of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands, and from there head back.

It is noteworthy that salmon do not feed during spawning, they have enough body resources accumulated earlier. Of the 15 million individuals that migrate from Alaska, only about 2 million reach the final destination. On the way of the fish, many dangers lie in wait: grizzly bears and, of course, poachers await them. Despite the prohibitions, fishermen can easily catch almost defenseless fish on their way from California to Alaska. In 1913, a record catch was even set, which amounted to 31 million salmon.

Salmon spawning is a picturesque sight. Many tourists come to Roderick Haig-Brown Provincial Park to admire the scarlet salmon - a real miracle of nature! Earlier on the site Kulturologiya.ru we talked about another unusual "fish" place that attracts many tourists. This is Hwacheon in South Korea, home to the annual Trout Festival!