VIDEOS — Salmon return to the Elwha River

Published 12:01 am Wednesday, October 10, 2012

IN RECENT WEEKS, visitors to the Elwha River flowing through the now-dry bed of the former Lake Aldwell — above what was the Elwha Dam — and in the lower reaches of the river have been treated to king (chinook) salmon spawning in the mainstem of the river and in its side channels.

Since the salmon began entering the Elwha River in June, hundreds of kings — along with some pink salmon — have made it upstream beyond the now-demolished Elwha Dam.

We found two YouTube videos showing the Elwha salmon on their spawning runs:

By NatureBridge field science educator Ned Buckingham: http://youtu.be/gxRpl4X5LwA

and by “garyhere1”: http://youtu.be/KPyRij0rpLk

For more about the Elwha River restoration project, go to cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/peninsuladailynews and put “Elwha Dam” in the search box to call up hundreds of stories.