The Salmon run !

Last month I had the chance to visit the upper reaches of my local river Ribble,it is without doubt one of the best areas to watch the Atlantic salmon return to their birthplace to spawn.whilst at sea the salmon are blue black colour on their back with silvery sides,however when returning to the rivers they change colour dramatically especially the males to a bronze purple with red spots to their head and body.

This fine male shows the full extent of the colour change.The silver adult at sea gives it great camouflage against predators.Seen from above the salmon blends into the dark water.From below a white belly is hard to see against the light sky!

A leap of about 3 metres was needed to clear this rapid,giving me a good chance to capture the fish with the lens.Not many actually made it whilst I was there,but it wasn`t through lack of effort.

The weir was one of many obstacles on their homeward journey,with sport fisherman,otter,mink all taking their toll on the stocks.They are known to live for 12 to 13 yrs so make this journey maybe 10 times in their lifetime.

This female of about 10 pounds just fell short and landed on a small rocky outcrop,amazing to witness!I only caught the tail end of the run this year,so I`m already looking forward to returning next year in the hope of watching these fish complete this amazing journey.Thanks for dropping by and looking at my blog and I hope you enjoy the images of the Atlantic salmon!!!!