Capilano Salmon Hatchery

I'm a cheap date. Pack a lunch and bus me to North Vancouver's Capilano Salmon Hatchery. I'd never seen salmon migrating before and it was high time I did.  We went when the Chinook's were heading to their salmon grounds on a spectacular fall day.  Below is the dam and the fish ladder is the opening on the lower right.

These here are the tanks where the small babies are held.  They raise several types here including chinooks, coho and steelheads.  The survival rate is very good. The small fry are a different colour from the adults. I like the coho fry the best with their curiosity and stripes.

I knew due to David Attenborough and National Geographic that the trip back to the adult's original spawning grounds is long and hard.  But I never realized how hard until I saw it for myself.  The fish below is very battered. There are scales missing and the white flesh looks necrotic.  Maybe this one will make it. Hopefully she/he does not have far to go.  Geordie and I headed down stream to watch them in a more natural setting and I dunked my camera int he water and the perfect moment to get this intrepid traveler.