Had my best spawner patrol of the year so far on Byrne Creek, with a total of 6 live Coho and  1 live Chum salmon. I also processed (species, sex, length, spawning status) 5 dead Coho and 1 dead Chum.

I also got to watch a pair of Coho spawning. They tend to by shy, and I don’t get to see this that often!

Some photos and a video:

Chum

Coho

Four Coho and a Chum ready for processing

Coho

Coho at the gate in the sediment trap

Video of Coho spawning in the lower ravine:

NOTE: Volunteer Streamkeepers have training and permission to monitor spawning salmon, and to process them after they die. We cut carcasses in half after we’ve gathered the data so that we know they’ve been assessed, and return them to the stream to provide nutrients to the ecosystem.