Salmon are fascinating creatures.  Although the salmon we eat are mostly caught deep in ocean, they start and (usually) end their life in fresh water.  Every year salmon will swim upstream from the ocean to river spawning grounds to lay eggs.  The average distance is said to be around 150 miles; they do not feed throughout the journey, and a majority of them will die after.  The majority of the newborn salmon will travel downstream to go back to the ocean.

A few friends and I visited the salmon hatchery in Issaquah last week to observe this amazing event since it is salmon's mating season right now.  However, we did see some big salmon fish in the river but they were not quite active.  It seems we just did not pick the right time. 

The salmons were a lot more energetic this week probably due to the increased water meter and flow caused by the rain fall last week. 

My mother visited the hatchery and took this video: