Pink Putrefaction

It's October in the Northwest, and that means salmon.

As is widely known, salmon spend most of their adolescent and adult lives in the open ocean. Then, when nature calls them to breed, they return up the freshwater rivers of the northern coasts to the streams where they hatched. There, after a quick negotiation or two, they lay and fertilize their eggs. That done, they swim off and die. All part of the Glorious Circle of Life, of course. But there's one little question to be dealt with yet.

What becomes of the bodies?

Well, I'll tell you. They tend to float along for awhile before getting washed ashore on the river bank. There they rot while flies and other vermin help themselves to salmon dinner gone bad. The resulting stench is familiar to anyone who's encountered a dead animal in the woods. (Except, of course, that here it's not one dead animal, it's hundreds of dead fish.)

Sultan sits at the confluence of two rivers, and both of those rivers are breeding habitat for salmon. It's getting pretty ripe around here.

Fortunately, there is some good news. The salmon passing through town are primarily pink salmon, which breed only every other year. So we don't have this problem in even-numbered years. Also, although this year's migration is expected to comprise a little over 100,000 fish, it will be a bit smaller than the migration of two years ago. That fall, the atmosphere around Sultan got downright unpleasant.

Maybe someday, I'll be able to convince myself to eat salmon again. Not today, however.