Issaquah Salmon Hatchery Chinook Putting On a Show!

Chinook have shown up at the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery, and they are putting on a good show in front of our cameras. Serendipitously, the underwater camera got buried under 3 feet of gravel in the February floods in Issaquah Creek, and the crater left from the excavation is right in front of the new camera placement, and is preferred by the chinook waiting to enter the (closed) fish ladder.

The hatchery raises both chinook and coho salmon, which are released at a young age to spend the majority of their lives in nature. Not everyone has the ability to visit the hatchery to view the return of the adults of these magnificent salmon each fall during their spawning migration. SalmonCam is the solution to this problem; live streaming is now available of adult salmon attempting to jump the weir, an artificial and removable barrier in Issaquah Creek.

Many thanks to WRIA 8 and the King County Flood Control District for funding the grant that purchased the hardware. And similar gratitude to Lucas Hall with Long Live the Kings for pivotal camera advice.