KCollett
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Hello Everyone,
A few more photos from my September trip to Murtle Lake (elevation is about 1,000 m, and depths up to 300m).
As you may recall, the landlocked salmon, Kokanee, that live in this lake are fairly small, and reproduce at a comparatively young age (2 years). Still, their looks and behavior is quite interesting.
The lake itself was created due to a dam of lava that blocked the valley it now resides in. Outflow is via a single river with impassible falls, and there were no fish living there originally. Rainbow trout and the Kokanee were introduced in the early 1900's, and it has since become an angler's destination (although the 2.5 km portage to get into the lake puts some people off).
Each fall, the Kokanee head up the creeks that feed into the lake to spawn. The fine gravel makes an excellent base for the fish to create a redd, or nest, to deposit eggs into. When you look at the creeks, you see red fish everywhere, but they are mostly swimming on the spot, in pairs or singly. A number of the fish you see are quite beat up, with fins, tails, parts of jaws, or skin missing. Eventually, they do complete the spawning process and die, as their genetics dictate.
I find the this final part of their life cycle, and the colors and beauty of the fish, quite fascinating.
1. Staking Out Territory - Swimming on the spot
2. Fishy Portrait - Notice the fleshy bits at the end of the lower jaw. I believe that is due to damage as the others did not have them. No crop.
3. Death Is Encroaching - After spawning, the fish die. It is not instantaneous, so you see weak and dying fish floating downstream, or along the edges of the creeks. This one was on a gravel edge, still breathing, and flicking its tail once in a while. Being partially out of the water, you can see how vivid its coloration is.
4. Death Has Arrived - This fish had recently died. It still shows bright colors and the eye is bright yellow. I posted this one in the previous set, but wanted it for comparison to the following pictures.
5. Fading - You can see the colors in this fish are losing their vibrancy and the eye color is only a pale yellow.
6. Decomposing - Those fish that are caught in the shallows, and don't get washed out to the lake, decompose and provide nutrition for various scavengers. This one is typical of those that had been on land for a fair number of hours I think the number of people at this site (edge of a campground) kept some of the bigger one away - eagles, mink, weasles, and the like. I didn't see many skeletal remains, as the run was not that old.
7. The Tail Tells A Tale - I saw a number of fish that seemed pretty healthy, but missing parts. This picture is of the same fish in #4, but I also saw similar, significant damage on many of the live fish. Beating the gravel with their body to create a redd is the predominant reason for the damage.
8. Caught In An Eddy - The pattern of water flow kept this fish on the bottom of the creek, in shallow pool (2 ft deep). On this part of the creek, most of the dead and dying fish simply washed down to the lake. Notice the caddisfly larva, in its gravel cocoon, feeding on the fish. The larva uses silk to make a protective cocoon of gravel, sand, twigs or other debris from the environment it is living in.
I hope you enjoyed reading and viewing a bit more about this pretty fish. If you have any thoughts on the images or text, I would really like you to share them in the form of comments.
Thanks for looking!!
Ken
Edited on Nov 16, 2013 at 01:47 AM · View previous versions
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