We took a walk through Penticton’s Japanese Garden.
The water level in the pond had dropped a lot; not surprising considering how dry August was.
We stopped to take a look at the many colourful koi. They expected us to feed them and swam eagerly to the pond’s edge.
Some of them are quite large!
This is a very tranquil garden on the edge of Lake Okanagan; such a beautiful spot.
Happy Thursday.
The kokanee salmon have begun their arduous journey upstream to spawn and continue their life cycle.
Kokanee are thought to be landlocked, freshwater sockeye salmon that separated from that species about 15000 years ago. It migrates upstream from lakes instead of from the ocean.
It’s a small species that grows to be approximately 2 kilos (about 5 lbs) at most, but is clearly a survivor.
Happy Wednesday.
I like this sculpture of a fish swimming through some reeds and placed, appropriately enough, in a large public garden pond.
The fish is very realistic looking, I think.
Happy Ides of March!
If you look closely, you will see three pink fish in the centre of the photo. These are small Kokanee salmon; they are a form of land-locked sockeye salmon that live all their lives in fresh water.
It’s thought that they became separated from their sockeye relatives and trapped in lakes and streams about 15,000 years ago. While they spend most of their time in lakes, they travel into creeks and rivers to spawn. Many of them die while following this biological imperative; you can see some dead ones in the photo above.
The average Kokanee only grows from about 1.5 to 3 kilos (six pounds). They are not the prettiest looking fish, but the males turn dark pink when they are spawning.
I have eaten Kokanee salmon and they have a very delicious, somewhat mild flavour; in my opinion they taste more like a richer trout.
Greetings from the Kokanee salmon of the Okanagan Valley. 🙂
Here’s a great photo from 2019. Entitled “He’s right behind me, isn’t he?” it was taken by Anthony N Petrovitch.
And I love this photo from Vlado Pirsa called “Family Disagreement.”
We can all imagine that conversation.
And this head scratcher from Co Grift.
The original website is here: https://www.comedywildlifephoto.com/gallery/finalists/2019_finalists.php
Although these photos are humorous, they are also meant to bring attention to wildlife and their habitat destruction.
Happy mid-week. 🙂
In the Net! - Pictures and Stories of Life 