| Adams River - Tsútswecw Provincial Park Photographing the Salmon Run | |
| By Drs. Robert Berdan, Sharif Galal and Wayne Lynch |
Source: canadiannaturephotographer |
10/20/2018 |
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Adams River Salmon Run
Every four years there is a dominant Sockeye salmon run in early October (2018, 2022) at Adams River British Columbia and it includes millions of fish returning to spawn. Subdominant years (2019, 2003) can also have a substantial run. This year I joined two friends and fellow photographers (Wayne and Sharif) to photograph Sockeye salmon. One doesn't need a lot of sophisticated equipment to photograph the fish. You can photograph the spawning salmon from the shoreline with any camera. For those that want to enter the water with waders or wet suit you will need to obtain a permit where you need to justify getting into the water.
The drive from Calgary to Chase a town near the Adams River is about 7.5 to 8 hours depending on how often you stop along the way. In Tsútswecw Provincial Park (used to be called Roderick Haig-Brown Provincial Park), there are viewing platforms, live underwater cameras and various vendors offering food. Entrance to the park is $5 per car and some trails are wheel chair accessible. One of the best places to view the spawning salmon is the viewing platform about 300 m west of the parking lot. Other attractions in the park include: Artisans market, food vendors, Indigenous activities, wild salmon cooking demonstration, live music and yoga with the salmon. The park is open from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm Sept 28 to October 21. Download Park Brochure PDF.
Below are some pictures we took between October 14-16, 2018 on our trip to the Adams River. |
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Young sockeye feed in lakes mainly on crustacean zooplankton, especially "water fleas" of the genus Daphnia shown above. When Daphnia are sparse they supplement their diet with insect larvae and pupae in the water column. The characteristic that identifies sockeye from all other salmon is the number of gill rakers on the first gill arch - there can be more than 30 reflecting its zooplankton feeding specialization (Behnke 2002). Young sockeye can spend up to 1-3 years in a lake before juveniles undergo the smolting process in preparation for life in the ocean. Most sockeye migrate to the ocean when they are 8-15 cm long and migration of smolts occurs in spring.
Sockeye spawn in late September through early November (every year with a dominant run every four years 2018, 2022). Sockeye are the second largest fish to spawn in the Adams River. These fish are bright red with green heads when they spawn (Source Adams River Salmon Society).
Male Sockeye as it appears in the ocean. A. Hoen and Co. - Scanned from plates in Evermann, Barton Warren; Goldsborough, Edmund Lee (1907) The Fishes of Alaska, Washington, D.C. Department of Commerce and Labour Bureau of Fisheries. Image in the Public domain.
During spawning the Sockeye salmon undergoes a radical transformation from the ocean going appearance above to the bright red version with green head and curved jaw with more teeth as shown below for the male. Females undergo similar changes in colouration but to a lesser degree and do not form a dorsal hump or curved jaws. |
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