Salmon run at Goldstream

Thousands of chum salmon are running upstream (well, swimming if you want to get technical) in beautiful Goldstream Park on south Vancouver Island. I've been to the park three times in the last several weeks, and each time it has been different. The first time I went with my friend Keith and his two dogs on a rainy Saturday in early November when there were very few visitors because the salmon run had barely begun. We saw lots of salmon but very few people. The streamflow was just starting to pick up after the first of the winter rains but still low enough that we were able to walk upstream through a drainage arch and stand at the base of the falls. The ground was absorbing almost all of the water coming down, so just a few trickles ran downhill through the arch.

The second time, around Nov. 11, I brought my friend Eric from Santa Cruz (whos work in northern Washington incidentally helps restore salmon habitat on the Skagit River). We couldn't even get close to the drainage arch because of the enormous flow, let alone walk upstream! So to get the the falls we walked up and around to approach from the top instead of trying to walk upstream.



In the lower part of the park, we were treated to the sight of hundreds of salmon, spawning, thrashing, swimming, dying.

The park expects 300,000 kg of dead fish to fill the streams during the spawning season... a few weeks between late October and early December. All of the fish will spawn and die within 10 days of arriving at the site! There are gulls and eagles and huge numbers, having a buffet.