Chum salmon are running at Carkeek Park! To celebrate, come out to the park and get to know the salmon!
Students from public and private elementary schools are learning by observing, conversing, and applying their experiences. Park visitors from near and far are visiting the park to watch salmon swim upstream to locate suitable habitat and mates for this annual spawning event.
The first fish were sighted on Oct 27, 2016 by Andrea F. on Piper’s Creek. Look for increasing numbers of live salmon through November with fish still in the creek in the first couple of weeks in December.
Remember, please stay on the trails and use the viewing areas to watch for salmon. Keep all of your dog friends leashed and out of the creeks and away from the creek banks.
Here are some of the activities you might want to know about:
Salmon Stewards
Each Saturday & Sunday in November and the 1st weekend in December, 11AM—2PM; Carkeek Park Salmon Stewards are a community of local volunteers trained to welcome, engage, educate, and inspire park visitors drawn by the annual Piper’s Creek salmon run.
Carkeek Salmon Search Program
November through the beginning of December; outdoor workshops each year bring Salmon in the Schools classrooms to the park to learn fish dissection, creek walk discoveries of returning salmon, and the detailed salmon life cycle as it applies to human and natural obstacles to survival. Seattle Public Utilities and local Naturalists partner with teachers to share the exciting salmon run and park resources with hundreds of local youth. Some of the returning adult fish the students see may have been released by their schools 3-5 years earlier as small salmon fry, also part of the Salmon in the Schools program.
Salmon Spawning Survey
Each Saturday in November until the end of the salmon run in December; trained CWCAP volunteers collect data from deceased salmon to determine their numbers and spawning success. This annual survey follows the story of these fish after they are released from the Les Malmgren Imprint Pond 3-5 years earlier.
Salmon egg deliveries
→ Early January
Salmon fry deliveries
→ February
→ March
→ April
This month is the 20th anniversary of the Carkeek Play Area renovation, the theme which celebrates the Watershed, the lifecycle of the salmon, the people connection to nature, and Native American wisdom! I know Nancy was hoping to put a small celebration together. Will CPAC be helping to make this happen and if so please let us know. Please post the Salmon Homecoming celebration date and time.