Salmon Photography, Photos, Pictures

Salmon is the common name for several species of fish of the family Salmonidae. Salmon live in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, as well as the Great Lakes and other land locked lakes. Typically, salmon are anadromous: they are born in fresh water, migrate to the ocean, then return to fresh water to reproduce. Folklore has it that the fish return to the exact spot where they were born to spawn. For many centuries, people caught salmon as they swam upriver to spawn.

Sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka), also called red salmon, is an anadromous species of salmon found in the Pacific Ocean. The same species when it occurs in landlocked bodies of water is called the Kokanee. It is the third most common species of Pacific salmon, after Pink and Chum salmon. The name "sockeye" is thought to have been a corruption of the various indigenous tribes' word "sukkai."

Prior to spawning the sockeye are blue tinged with silver in color during their ocean life. The males develop a hump on their back and their jaw and teeth become hooked when they move from salt to fresh water. Males and females both turn red with green heads, and a dark stripe on their sides prior to spawning. Sockeye salmon spawn mostly in streams having lakes in their watershed. The young fish, known as fry, spend from zero to three years in the freshwater lake before migrating to the ocean, while some stay in the lake and do not migrate to the sea. The fish that migrate spend from one to four years in the salt water before they return to spawn in autumn (September-December). Migration back to the home river is thought to be done using the characteristic smell of the stream, and possibly the sun.

Some of the best locations to photograph spawning salmon include the Adams River in Central British Columbia, Southeast Alaska, and the Katmai Coast. Photographing them underwater can be accomplished using a housed camera in very shallow sections of river where they congregate.