September 29th, Grace and I went to the Don River at the Charles Sauriol Conservation Area in Toronto to see if the salmon were running already. many years ago we were in Alaska on a cruise and saw the salmon going up on fish ladder. in the park we just stood on a bride and looked down to the river. I guess we were lucky we got to see one.
Here is a bit of history of the salmon run. I copied it from the internet.
"For salmon, migration is a big part of their life cycle. Locally, adult salmon spend their life in Lake Ontario. When they come "of age", they migrate (or "run") up streams connected to the lake to spawn. During a salmon run, females will dig broad, shallow nests (also called redds) into the gravel, choosing to lay their eggs in areas where there is fast-flowing, fairly deep waters. The females will then guard their redd for up to 4 weeks, before dying. An adult female can lay as many as 5,000 eggs during this time! About 3 months after fertilization, the eggs hatch. After a few more months, the fry (aka baby salmon) begin to swim, and over the next 1 to 3 years they remain in the stream feeding on invertebrates, continuing to grow. About 3 years into their life cycle, they become smolts and are now ready to swim back down stream to Lake Ontario. Smolts will stay in the lake for another 1 to 3 years and grow into adults. Then, the life cycle starts all over again."
That's cool and so interesting! My son and his friend just returned from a fishing trip at one of the rivers that feeds into Lake Ontario. The salmon they caught were HUGE!!! Now I know they must be somewhere between 3 and 6 years old. Interesting shot.
