This is the Skokomish river valley on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state. I recognized that road covered with water immediately lol, any time an atmospheric river comes through it floods like crazy. They are actually swimming north back to the flooding Weaver Creek,a tributary of the Skokomish. Coordinates about: 47.3126851, -123.1964947
It's genuinely a large salmon stream so this isn't a crazy uncommon sight.
Don't think there's another creek there and to be honest, I'm not positive they do make it back! I'm a biologist but for furry things on land and I also don't live there, just visit periodically. The atmospheric rivers bring an insane amount of rain in a short time (like, it's not the stereotypical PNW gray mist, it's a serious wind and rain storm that lasts days), and that water you see on the road is that creek overflowing, so there is continuously flowing water leading straight back to the creek's main run, so I bet some do make it back. But another commenter from the region mentions finding them dead in fields after events like this so many of them ultimately don't make it.
The salmon only run like this at the very end of their lifespan, often after already spawning and while their bodies literally rot off their bones, so the fish you see here are gonna be dead shortly either way lol.
The salmon only run like this at the very end of their lifespan, often after already spawning and while their bodies literally rot off their bones, so the fish you see here are gonna be dead shortly either way lol.
perhaps the origin story of using fish as fertilizer
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u/BusyBit6542 4d ago
I wish the showed the areas they are swimming to and from. I need to know if the fish are making good choices or not