Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/375613
Witness the dramatic cycle of life this fall at the most famous salmon run in B.C. (and the world) by Darryl Leniuk Alex Mustard/Solent News/CP Images W e s T W o r l d >> fA l l 2 0 1 4 25 T he giant school of sockeye salmon eclipsed the sun. Fish bumped into me, knocking me off balance as I knelt on the lake bot- tom six metres down. I was scuba diving in Shuswap Lake at the mouth of the Adams River, a tributary of the mighty Fraser River in the B.C. Interior. It was October 2010 and I'd come to see one of the biggest salmon runs of the past century. Four million fish would come here to spawn, and they'd have to pass through this lake – and above my head – to get there. Seeing them this close was both exhilarating and frightening. I held my breath as long as I could but finally exhaled. The bubbles startled the school and it suddenly changed direction, sending shock waves through the water like thunder. I covered my head for pro- tection. The sandy bottom stirred up and visibility dropped to nothing. Circle of Life The Adams River sockeye run is truly one of the great spectacles of nature. Every year, salmon return here, to the place where they were born, to reproduce before dying. It remains a mystery to scientists how the fish manage to find their way back to their home river after years spent in dis- tant ocean waters. At the Adams River each fall, the female salmon that successfully struggle their way home will each lay 4,000 eggs in hollows (known as redds) in the River Runs The Red