A Fish for all Seasons

....and a season for all fish, or so it would seem. As we adjust to rural life we are becoming "tuned" to the changes of the seasons and the changes in nature. Late Summer and Fall are synonymous with the return of the Salmon, first the Coho, then the Springs, the Pinks and the Chum. Spring is the time of the Trumpeter Swans and the run of the Herring. Herring are small fish that come here by the millions to spawn. They are fished for their roe (eggs) which is a delicacy in Japan.
The spectacle is the actual spawning, the release of sperm and eggs in such volume that it literally turns the waters of the strait turquoise, an amazing sight. With the herring come the fishing boats with seine and gill nets and the natural predators (sea lions, seals, ducks, gulls, eagles) gathering in numbers for the feast. The sky is alive with the birds and the air heavy with the smell of fish. The noise, the screeching of the gulls and barking of the sea lions is almost deafening at times. What a calamity!


Sea lions started to gather weeks ago, waiting for the arrival of the herring.


A bald eagle watches and waits, a fishing boat anchored off Qualicum Beach and the fleet appears on the horizon to the south off Parksville.


A small boat almost obliterated by birds and a closer look...yes those dark birds are eagles. At one point we counted 26 of them "duking it out" with the gulls for their share of the herring.


Turquoise waters off the coast of Vancouver Island, a sight usually reserved for the tropics.
Back to the changing of the seasons..next up Halibut season and the Brandt Geese.