Spawn of the Living Dead
As October draws to a close, most of us have spent the past few weeks surrounded by images of Halloween monsters. Whether flipping past TV horror movies Read More…
salmon spawning
Photo Friday: Big Fish
There are still giants in the rivers. During our surveys of salmon carcasses on the Stanislaus River this season, we came upon this massive male Chinook salmon Read More…
Before They Hatch
When salmon build nests (redds) on top of each other, called superimposition, this can affect both individual salmon and salmon populations as a whole, as we described Read More…
Fish fertilizer
Anecdotal accounts tell of salmon once so plentiful in California's Central Valley streams that farmers spread salmon carcasses onto their fields to fertilize crops. While those days Read More…
Smile, you’re on salmon camera!
Considering how much gear we station underwater or deploy floating in California’s rivers, it’s remarkable that we’re able to keep track of and recover it all—well, almost Read More…
One-to-one spawning
Last week we shared a video of a female Chinook salmon spawning with four males, including a large, dominant male and sneaky, small sized jacks. In contrast, Read More…
Casual spawning
While many people have observed salmon swirling about in West Coast rivers during the spawning season, it's not always apparent what is actually happening beneath the surface. Read More…
On point
For the past few weeks, fisheries technicians have been carefully surveying miles of the Stanislaus River for salmon nests (i.e., redds). Perched high on the bow of Read More…