Standing on a dry, rocky streambed in the Canadian wilderness on an autumn afternoon, I could not help but notice the ferocious flashes of red in the water.

On the Adams River in British Columbia (BC), I was witnessing the courtship dance of hundreds of thousands of Pacific salmon ready to complete one, perhaps unusual, final life task – spawning.

The Adams River has one of North America’s largest sockeye salmon migrations.

“These fish have travelled a 4,000km round trip from birth – this is the end of their journey,” said my guide, Ted Danyluk, who has been volunteering with the Adams River Salmon Society since 2010.

“This river is home to four of the five species of Pacific salmon – the chinook, pink, sockeye and coho.

“When they enter the Fraser River, near Vancouver, and begin their two-week migration home to their birthplace, they stop eating and use all their energy to get back here.

“The sockeye salmon also change from silver to red in colour, and the males grow large humps.

“The reason the salmon change is so they can tell the difference between each other and avoid inter-species breeding.”

Witnessing this final chapter in this age-old story of life, death and determination is incredible.

Plan your next holiday with RACQ Travel

After they have hatched, these sockeye salmon spend about a year in nearby Shuswap Lake before making their way to the ocean.

In their fourth year, those who have survived predators, fishing and disease, return home to the same river they were born to find a mate, spawn and then die.

“The female will drop up to 4,000 eggs in a rocky redd (nest), the male will then drop his milk (sperm), and they’ll cover the nest,” Ted said.

“The pair will guard the redd for seven to 10 days before dying.” About two salmon out of the 4,000 eggs will make it back home. There is a ‘dominant’ run every four years when more salmon are expected.

In 2010, a record 3.8 million sockeye returned to Adams River, but the numbers have declined. In 2018, only 530,000 sockeyes returned.

My fear of not encountering these now seemingly at-risk species was shared with locals in towns I visited during a road trip across BC.

Each conversation centred on concerns for the salmon run.

“It’s so dry this year, the water levels are low, fish numbers aren’t looking good,” was the common sentiment.

Adams River Salmon Society guide Ted Danyluk.

My guide explained salmon were coldblooded animals and sensitive to water temperatures.

“If the water is too warm, their bodies heat up and you get higher mortality rates,” Ted said.

“Lower river levels also contribute to the water temperature being warmer.

“When the salmon arrive at the mouth of the Fraser River from the ocean, they’ll wait until the water gets to 18–20°C, but their biological clock is ticking, telling them to lay their eggs, so sometimes they’ll come up the river even if the water is too warm, and that can be deadly.”

In other areas of BC, mass die-offs were reported during my visit due to a drought drying up streams, leaving the salmon with nowhere to go.

With my guide, I headed along a woodland trail to a quieter estuary where male salmon were doing their best to woo females in shallow waters.

Females busied themselves shoving rocks into a respectable redd.

The reality of this Romeo and Juliet story dawned on me when I spotted a grey salmon floating lifelessly in the current.

“She’s dying, she’s laid her eggs, and her journey is finished,” Ted said.

The Adams River.

I could not help but wonder what happens to the thousands (sometimes millions) of dead salmon.

And what about the bears and birds – surely, they would catch onto this smorgasbord?

“Where we see a lot of bear activity along a river is closer to the coast, mainly in the north west, when the salmon haven’t travelled far so they’re in better shape and more edible for bears,” Ted said.

“Bears also tend to feast on berries at this time of year.”

Scavenger birds, like eagles, prefer dead fish and will wait to pick at carcasses on the banks of rivers and lakes.

We watched the salmon run at Tsútswecw Provincial Park (formerly Roderick Haig-Brown Provincial Park) in the Shuswap region in mid-October 2022.

In dominant years (2022, 2024), the Salute To The Sockeye festival is held in the park. 

Learn about International Driving Permits