Robertson Creek Hatchery, BC

The Robertson Creek Fish Hatchery
is located along Great Central Lake Road
just off of the Pacific Rim Highway.
Producing millions of smolts yearly,
the Robertson Creek facility
is the most successful hatchery on Vancouver Island.

A smolt is a young salmon, 2 - 3 years old, that
has undergone changes to enable it to migrate from
the fresh water to the salt water of the Pacific Ocean.
The Robertson Creek hatchery produces
coho salmon, chinook salmon, and steelhead trout
smolts.
When you stop to think about it, here
is an animal that can adapt to several different
environments over it's lifetime.
The migration from fresh water to salt water alone
is an arduous journey filled with
all kind of dangers, from hungry eagles
to otters and seals waiting for a snack.

Then, the whole adventure begins again
when they are ready to spawn back from
the ocean to their birthplace.
From
salt water back to fresh water, they brave rapids,
hungry bears
and many other hazards to
lay eggs and begin their cycle of life all
over again.
Pretty amazing.
Mother Nature never fails to astound me.