Use your eyes, ears, nose, and heart.

There are exciting signs of salmon pooling in the waters around Cortes & Quadra – off Hanks & Hollyhock beaches, around Frabjes Day & Whaletown, from the Cortes ferry near Quadra.

What are they doing? - They are likely chum salmon preparing to enter their natal streams while undergoing important metabolic changes so they can breathe and live in fresh water for the brief remaining time left for them to spawn. They are also waiting for conditions to be right for them to start up the creeks – creek temperature & water level; rising tides that coincide with the protection of night.

What can you do? Use your eyes, ears and nose to help with community sightings. Note where & when you see the salmon (location, date, time). Look for key signs – seal, sea lion and seabird presence; finning and splashing behaviour; increased eagle and raven activity. Early carcasses washed up on beaches. Listen for splashing in the creeks, especially at night. Smell comes after spawning, hopefully successful, and ‘though most people turn up their noses, it is an organic, earthy completion of a crucial cycle which feeds all kinds of critters, the forest and the creek itself. Please report your observations to FOCI or local streamkeepers.

It is known that salmon will spawn intertidally in lagoons with some gravel and fresh water upwellings, particularly if creek waters are low. We are especially interested in community observations of this phenomenon for Whaletown Lagoon, Frabjes Day (off Cortes Bay), Manson’s Lagoon, and Carrington Lagoon.

When the salmon are actively spawning, please remember these basic protocols. Respect private property. Walk quietly and slowly. Keep out of the creeks (especially dogs). Approach from downstream so the salmon move upstream if startled. Avoid raising your arm and pointing (an instinctive response). And take time to deeply appreciate what you are witnessing and part of.

Observations can be made to FOCI at or to streamkeepers,
Christine or Cec