20 Pink Salmon in Creek

These photos and videos were taken near the Balmoral Ave. fish ladder in Brooklyn Creek, Comox, from September 20 to 25, 2021. There had been a tremendous heavy rain on Friday the 17th of 56mm, which encouraged the pink salmon to swim upstream. It’s rewarding to see salmon in the creek! Best viewed on laptop or computer.

Sept. 20, 2021:

Video shows 8 pink salmon in the pool at the bottom of the fish ladder:

After recording the above video, I noticed several dead salmon downstream, and started to photo and count them – some (7) had been partially eaten, some (5) were whole fish, for a total of 12 dead. I went back a few days later and it was hard to find these dead fish, they just disappeared. With no rainfall or increase in the creek’s water level, it’s difficult to figure where the dead fish had gone. Click to enlarge the following photos of the dead salmon found September 21st:

: Whole salmon

: Whole pink salmon

: Just a remaining tail

: Salmon tail

: Two eaten pink salmon tails

: Whole pink salmon not eaten.

: Partially eaten pink salmon on the side bank

: Eaten pink salmon

: Whole pink salmon beside brown leaf.

: One whole salmon, one eaten salmon.

Sept. 25

Later in the week, I returned to find NO alive fish, and lots of evidence of salmon having been eaten (by racoons I assume, see the photo of the footprints). There were zero live fish in the pond that had eight swimming a few days earlier. I looked upstream and downstream in the usual fish holding haunts but nothing to be seen.