Wild salmon are dying in massive numbers due to drought

‘Without the rain and tide, I suspect many of those salmon would have been waiting in the ocean. They haven’t had enough time to adjust to the reality of this drought,’ said experts at the scene.

It’s believed that an atypically brief rain spell – which lasted only a single afternoon – had triggered the salmon’s movement upstream.

While swimming upriver, the fish rely heavily on oxygen in the water. But with so many numbers travelling and water levels unusually low, there wasn’t enough oxygen to supply them all. They eventually suffocated to death.

As you’d imagine, successful spawning is crucial to maintaining the species’ population levels. After assessing the damage, biologists estimated that at least 70 percent of the salmon discovered had failed to spawn.

Those responsible for monitoring local salmon populations labelled the event as ‘heart-breaking,’ especially because the species’ recovery had started improving significantly in recent years.

Discovering this number of salmons deaths may be unprecedented, but experts aren’t ruling out the possibility that it could happen again in the near future, especially when looking at scientific predictions for our warming planet.

This is not just bad news for the salmon either. Larger predators, specifically bears, are likely to travel off their normal routes to hunt for food if they can’t find a meal, posing a threat to other animals and humans too.

Changing weather patterns also directly affects human life. In normal years, the city of Vancouver sees so many wet days that it’s been nicknamed ‘Raincouver’. But lately, the city has experienced entire months without a drop.

As a result, water stores are running low and surrounding forests are becoming more prone to the dangers of wildfires. These incidents gravely threaten Indigenous communities, who suffer loss of their livelihoods and cultural lands.

The mass salmon deaths should be taken as a symbolic warning for what’s to come.

‘It’s something we have to keep monitoring. I hope this is a rare event, but we need to be prepared to help the salmon when possible to avoid something like this happening again,’ said a conservationist.