A River Runs Red

Every four years the Adams River in the interior of BC becomes a scene of a natural miracle. In early fall the trees are not the only things to change colour. The normally quiet river turns turbulent and red as up to three and a half million sockeye salmon return to spawn. Their arrival is welcomed by the 'Salute to the Sockeye,' a pageant which draws hundreds of thousands of visitors to the Roderick Haig-Brown Provincial Park, a section of the river dedicated to the famous British Columbia fly fisherman, naturalist, and author.

During the first three weeks of October the salmon will return from the ocean back to their birthplace to lay their eggs and die. In the spring the eggs hatch and the fish will spend it's first year in the fresh waters of Shuswap Lake. The small salmon will then migrate down the Thompson and Fraser Rivers to the Pacific Ocean. They will spend the next three years in salt water swimming as far as Japan. In their fourth year they return to their spawning grounds, making the almost 500km trip in less than three weeks. As the sockeye make their journey they stop eating and their bodies undergo an amazing transformation. Their silver bodies turn a deep red and their heads turn green. The males develop green hump backs and hooked snouts. Though other species of salmon change colour, no others changes as dramatic as the sockeye.

During the the dominant run in 2002 the mouth of the river had salmon packed like sardines 250 feet out and 50 feet deep. The top salmon were pushed out of the water and birds were sitting on their backs. The water around the salmon was so turbulent it looked like it was boiling. As the salmon move up the Adams River they will pair off to spawn. For every 4000 eggs they lay only two adults will return to repeat the cycle. After laying their eggs the fish will die. Their bodies are an important part of the food chain for other animals; eagles and ospreys feed off of the dead salmon and at night the bears and coyotes will come out to feed.

Photos courtesy of the Adams River Salmon Society. For more information, visit www.salmonsociety.com.