Beautiful (their red colour) but sad (the end result).
And I see the beer cans were also spawning this year (no beauty there, just sad)
Andrew: What fascinates me the most with this is what's been dubbed the 'salmon forest'. It was only discovered late in the last century (and doesn't that sound like a long time ago?) Basically, the various pacific salmon are born in streams, migrate downstream and live four to seven years or so in the ocean before returning to fresh water to spawn and die. On their way upstream they provide food for bears, wolves, humans, eagles, crows, ravens, magpies and a host of other species of animals. Many of the fish are eaten 'on site', but many more are dragged away, up to 20 metres or so from the stream, and when the salmon run is high, often only the most choice bits are eaten and the rest discarded. Now the interesting part is that when the salmon are in the ocean they absorb a specific type of nitrogen and carbon that's not available inland. Imagine the scientists' surprise when they found those same compounds in the trees and other plants surrounding the salmon streams. As the bodies of the salmon decay, they provide fertilizer for the plants, literally keeping the forest alive.
P.S. And yes, the one with the beer can I called, 'What We Give...'