This week, Division 2 traveled to Adam's River to see the salmon run. Adam's River is a spawning ground for salmon, which means that it is a place where adult salmon return to when it is time to lay their eggs.
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| This is Adam's River, where hundreds of thousands of adult salmon lay their eggs. |
When we arrived at Adam's River we took a walk through the provincial park and down to the river. The river was so full of fish when we arrived that we could smell it all the way from the bus. As we walked closer and closer, the smell got stronger! Some of us had to plug our noses.
Down by the river, we saw lots of salmon swimming in the water. They were all bright red. That means that they are mature adult salmon, that are ready for laying eggs. We learned that the female salmon use their tails to dig out a 'nest' for their eggs in the gravel at the bottom of the river. A salmon's nest is called a redd. The male salmon covers the eggs in milt. Then the female salmon protects her eggs by covering them in gravel and swimming nearby.
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| How many red salmon can you spot in this photo? |
Adult salmon usually die after they spawn, and there was lots of evidence of this on the beach! There were dead fish lying on the rocks, and some still floating in the water. We noticed that these dead fish were being eating by lots of seagulls and other birds. They were also home to some very lucky flies. Other animals eat the spawning salmon, too, like bears, eagles, and humans. Any salmon that isn't eaten breaks down and adds nutrients to the soil, which then becomes food for the plants near the river.
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| Was it a bear? There were blood and fish eggs on the gravel - evidence that a fish was eaten here! |
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| This fish will be a tasty dinner for a bird! |
We took a lot of photos during the day of all the things we observed by the river. We liked walking on the trails and looking for animals. We loved spotting the red salmon swimming and jumping in the river. Even the dead fish weren't so bad! We got to see salmon bones and teeth up close, and some salmon eggs. We had an excellent day at Adam's River!
Leave us a comment:
What was your favourite part of our Adam's River adventure?
What was one new thing that you learned about salmon on our field trip?
Have you ever been fishing for salmon?
dear div2
ReplyDeletemy favourite thing was waking
from Preston
What a wonderful thing to see! Was the water cold? How many salmon do you think you saw?
ReplyDelete@Kansas,
ReplyDeleteThe water was really chilly! Although, I don't think it was as cold as the water at Nicomen Falls. That water is so cold that it hurts to keep your hand in!
I estimate that we spotted about 200 salmon. Sometimes it was hard to see the salmon because the water was so fast and there were a lot of waves. Even though most of us had seen a salmon before - or even eaten one! - we had never seen the salmon so red before! We learned that they turn red when they are mature adults.
Miss. OC
@Preston,
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure you mean 'walking'. That was my favourite part, too. I really like walking through the woods because you get to see so many different living things. On our walk at Adam's River I noticed salmon, birds, insects, trees, mosses, and some mushrooms.
What interesting things did you see on our walk?
Your teacher,
Miss. OC
Any of the children been salmon fishing?
ReplyDelete@ Anonymous,
ReplyDelete10 of us have been salmon fishing before. We have been fishing with our parents, our grandparents, our cousins, and our friends. We have used fishing rods to catch salmon and dip nets and other nets in the river.
Your friends,
Division 2
Wow, what a fun looking field trip! We went down to Cayoosh Creek and saw the salmon spawning as well, it was really, really smelly too! I don't blame the kids for plugging their noses!
ReplyDeleteJevan's sister.
This is very scenic and interesting. Thank you for sharing. Auntie Bonnie
ReplyDeleteDear div2
ReplyDeleteI like looking at the fish at the river
from Preston
Dear div2
ReplyDeleteI fished for salmon be for
from Preston