Seeking Salmon in Seattle

When we lived in California, it was a family joke to look for salmon in creeks. Every year when we saw signs announcing salmon migration, we would study the waters, never spotting a single fish. Finally in Seattle, the only city with locks and a fish ladder, I saw hundreds of Chinook and a few Coho patiently swimming from salt to fresh water. These days, only one in five is born wild, with most raised in hatcheries. Only one in a thousand salmon survive to spawn, with Chinook traveling over 2,000 miles from home before fasting up to four months on their return journey upriver. After all my years seeking salmon, I was in awe of these survivors finally heading home like Ullyses.