Salmon are returning again to Burnaby's Still Creek, a promising sign that the local waterway is in better health.
"What we've seen on Still Creek in recent days has been really exciting," said Burnaby resident Mark Angelo, retired chair emeritus of BCIT's Rivers Institute and the founder of World Rivers Day. "On some of the stretches of the creek, we've seen lots of chum salmon, and it's been really neat to see."
The salmon spectacle has been attracting onlookers, according to Angelo.
"I would see neighbourhood residents and school kids, or people who had read about it online, ... I'd see some people who had travelled quite a distance just to see these fish," he said. "For the people of Burnaby to come see the salmon life cycle play out in their own backyard is just so exciting."
Still Creek feeds into Burnaby Lake, so the spawning salmon would have travelled up the Fraser River, up Brunette Creek, across the lake and then up Still Creek, according to Angelo.
Once one of the most polluted waterways of the Lower Mainland, Still Creek has come a long way, Angelo pointed out.
According to Angelo, many groups partnered over the years to help rehabilitate the creek, improving the habitat for salmon.
"It's been so exciting to see this stream come back to life," Angelo says.
Last year, Still Creek also saw unusually high numbers of returning salmon, so this year's promising run means 2012 was not a "one-off," according to Angelo.
"(Still Creek) can provide a blueprint for other cities with severely damaged waterways flowing through them. If a plan is put in place, and there's a will and desire, we can turn things around," he said. "We can never give up on any waterway."
UPDATE: The NOW has also heard reports of salmon in Eagle Creek, Buckingham Creek, (which runs into Deer Lake) and in Deer Lake itself. Burnaby’s Stoney Creek is showing strong numbers of salmon returning this year, according to local streamkeepers.
Do you have photos or video of salmon in Still Creek? Tweet you images and tag us @BurnabyNow_news.
