View record salmon at WA state dam

The Wenatchee World via USA Today reports on the record number of sockeye salmon now making their way through Washington State's Rocky Reach Dam to their Canadian spawning grounds.

This year at Rocky Reach, the numbers of returning adult sockeye have surged past 271,000, said Steve Hemstrom, Chelan County PUD senior fisheries biologist. More than 247,000 of those swam through the dam's viewing windows in the last 22 days. The peak run for one 24-hour period occurred July 5 when 23,705 sockeye were counted. That's an average of about 1,000 per hour.

Many of the returning sockeye, now fighting their way up the Columbia River, will likely make a left turn at the Okanogan River and swim north to spawn in Lake Osoyoos, Hemstrom said. Curious observers at a high vantage point — say, the Okanogan River bridge in Omak — could likely see hundreds, maybe thousands of these fish making their way to Canadian home waters, he added.

Read the full story: Record number of sockeye salmon on view at Washington dam

Photo from Don Seabrook / The Wenatchee World / AP