Song of the Salmon: A Full Life Circle of Hope

The Pacific Salmons’ collective quest to breed in the exact river bed that they were born in, is one of the most amazing and underrated feats of nature. Each year since the beginning of time, West Coast Rivers of North America and Canada have been nature’s highways for carrying four and five year old salmon returning home from the rich saltwater currents of the Pacific Ocean, driven by the urge to spawn. Within a few weeks of that event, freshly hatched juvenile salmon move downstream in freshwater currents to the sea, where they will acclimatize and spend the rest of their lives trying to survive, until their river calls them home.

The ‘run’ up river is truly a testimony to the power and depth of purpose of nature. Collectively the various breeds of Pacific Salmon that make their spawning run upstream, not only provide a major food source for most other forest and river creatures, but also for the indigenous tribes who have for hundreds of years honored and valued the life spirit of the salmon. The journey of the salmon may be hundreds of miles long and during the run they change both in appearance and color as they near their destinations. Every conceivable creature that lives in the wild has gathered somewhere along the way, to wait for the salmon to arrive and to prey upon the sheer numbers of fish. The greatest predators encountered by the salmon are the mighty Grizzly Bears that fight for designated fishing spots and the range of birds of prey, like Eagles and Ospreys that hunt the salmon along the entire length of the river.

Unlike its Atlantic Salmon cousin, ultimately one way or another, each Pacific Salmon gives up it’s life during the spawning run, with those that do eventually spawn creating the entire next generation, only to die from it’s expended energy, having not eaten since before leaving the sea. Nature dictates that nothing of those determined and courageous salmon is wasted. Although gulls gorge themselves on thousands of fertile eggs, just as bears, wolves and other birds scatter broken salmon bodies across the rivers and forest floors; the Pacific Salmon give their spirit and bodily nutrients back to the earth, the rivers and the sea.

Below is a tribute to the life and spirit of the Pacific Salmon and its relevance to nature and our lives. The poem is called ‘Song of the Salmon’ and is written by Pearldiver. I hope that you enjoy ‘Song of the Salmon.’

Copyright © 2012 - 2013 Pearldiver - Art of the Diver with all rights reserved.

Goodbye to vast Pacific roaming

We’ve reached our own river paths

Back to homes left four years ago

Driven by nature’s intuitive powers

We gather here waiting with friends

In awe, at how much they’ve grown

And to forest glades come gentle people

Greeting one another, with stories of the run

Grizzly bears line the banks and water falls

Impatient gulls wait with patient black crows

Eagles in September cedars watch and wait

All patrons of great anticipation, all hoping

The salmons’ song, this year, won’t be late

Nature always tries to provide a perfect moment

For sacrifice written in songs and streams

For those driven by the urge to return and die

To spawn another generation in smooth river stones

Swimming on against the current and all the odds

The salmons’ song brings no tears to nature’s eyes

As they complete another full life circle, yet again

New life hatches, but the lyrics, remain the same

Now beyond all those that managed to live on, because

Beyond newly nourished redwood forest floors

Beyond the totems that honor this magical race

One tiny sockeye sings of past lives and sacrifice

On a quest to roam a vast ocean, to grow and then

Return home bravely, within a salmons’ song

With many friends, all born here, back to this exact place...

Words by Pearldiver

Copyright © 2012 - 2013 Pearldiver - Art of the Diver with all rights reserved.

Man has in the past, generally ignored the delicate balance that exists within the migratory needs and genetic traits of most wildlife and fish species. Man has built fences, created barriers, removed or changed special natural ecosystems and dammed rivers, with careless disregard to predictable consequences of those actions, to other living creatures. Justification gives rise to a myriad of excuses, blaming that relevant species group: for example, those creatures ‘get in the way of’ or are deemed to ‘interfere with’ human lifestyle development, or mankind’s other current and future needs! Always Mankind's Needs!

Further to this, other living creatures are also arrogantly culled by humans, in what is referred to as sustainable ‘commercial harvesting,’ yet in reality simply represents the decimating a species for financial gain, with little regard to that species needs. Such practices in modern times are often exploited as a result of humans having learned those natural migratory habits of the targeted species and then using those habits against the species to ensure commercial success. Sadly today somewhere in our world, man has helped to make another species extinct. It seems that nothing has been learned, nor wisdom sown, by too many generations of reapers.

World fish stocks are currently at their lowest ever, even though mankind has known for decades that the annual levels of decline would ultimately ensure the end of many once prolific species. Tuna stocks are currently raped to serve a greedy world of consumers who demand fish within their diets, at any cost! Sea-run salmon is equally sought after by a public oblivious to the salmons' quest for survival and the ancient lyrics to the 'Song of the Salmon.'

Copyright © 2012 - 2013 Pearldiver - Art of the Diver with all rights reserved.