Tag Archives: Lakes

nature, Photography

Kokanee Salmon

19 Comments

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.

Photo courtesy of Canstock.

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. 🙂

musings, nature, Photography

Weather Change

23 Comments

I took a long walk today along one of the shores of Great Slave Lake. There was a very fresh breeze blowing and it was a comfortable temperature, but I could see the autumn weather on the lake’s horizon.

And there was something very fall-like in the air; the smell of the wind, the changes in the foliage, the angle of the sun.

When I came across a couple of very fresh black bear footprints, I decided to walk efficiently back to my truck – I didn’t stop to take a photo of them.

Autumn is coming, but if the bears are still about we may have a while to go yet.