First Salmon Run of the Season

The Chum Salmon heading upstream

Lining the River

  Here we go! I've been looking and looking for salmon to start showing up in numbers in all the Southeast Alaska streams. It only took a closer look in Juneau to find my first salmon run! And it actually turned out to be two different runs, the chum and the sockeye!

Eagles Eagles Everywhere

  The first was at Lemon Creek. The fact that hundreds of bald eagles were surrounding the creek was a great tip off that something was up. A closer look at the creek showed that is was packed with chum salmon. They fought their way upstream in the creek that was only inches deep. Still they fought on. It seemed that some had either already spawned and passed on or perhaps just ran out of energy. There were salmon carcasses all around.

Feasting on fresh salmon

"This is my meal."

   Quite a few of the carcasses could be chocked up to the hungry eagles. I got up close and personal with one juvenile bald eagle who was so intent on its meal that it could have cared less about me taking its photograph. Some of the dead fish lining the banks looked pretty intact except the eyeballs which had been pecked out by some predator with very picky taste.

Red (Sockeye) Salmon

   A little ways up the road near Mendenhall Glacier I came across the second kind of salmon beginning its run. This was the red salmon which I saw last year being feasted on by a black bear mom and cubs at the very same spot. I wasn't lucky enough to see bears again this time but I bet I'll have a few chances yet to come. The summer of wildlife is heating up!