November 8, 2026 - Single (Salmon) In Seattle

 

On this gorgeous fall day, this Chum Salmon is a little early to the party at Piper's Creek in Seattle's Carkeek Park. (I didn't see any others.) The salmon run is typically starts at the end of October and runs into early December. With a good amount of rain in the forecast this week, it just might provide the nudge for more fish to make their way up to spawn. 

A typical season might see 300 Chum Salmon make their way up this small urban creek. However, in 2024 over 3000 were counted with over 1500 in a single day! 

Nearby a Great Blue Heron patiently stalked their dinner.

A group of people armed with binoculars, telescopes and long lenses seeming to be looking at the same thing was the key to spotting a pod of Orcas across the Sound. It took a good pair of lenses to see them as they were over 5 miles away!  This is the best I could do with my 300mm lens.  The dorsal fin of an Orca is the tiny spot in the water. The Olympic Mountains tower in the background. 

 

November 25, 2011 - Urban Chum

Chum salmon make their way up Pipers Creek to spawn.  The creek runs through Carkeek park, a 223 acre park in a north Seattle neighborhood.  The creek itself is less than a 1 1/2 mile long and its watershed is just under 3 square miles.  The last pair of original salmon were reported to have spawned here in 1927.  Efforts to resurrect a salmon run here began in 1979.  Currently 100-600 salmon return here each winter.  They are actually hatchery fish raised elsewhere that spend a few days in an imprinting pond of the creek as fingerlings before being released to make their way to Puget Sound where they spend 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 years before returning as 7 to 15 pound adults.