The AMAZING Journey of California Salmon

Join Kyle and I and we search for spawning Fall Run Chinook Salmon in California rivers. Watch female salmon construct redds– their nests within a gravel bed– and avoid predators like sea lions and eagles. Along the way, we discuss the major changes to Chinook salmon habitat in California –namely the construction of rim dams. We also visit a fish hatchery constructed to mitigate the loss of salmon habitat due to dams.

Chinook Salmon are the most prevalent salmon in California. During the salmon run, adult Chinook leave the ocean and travel upstream into freshwater searching for their natal river –the place of their birth. Once there, adult salmon spawn. Female salmon build a redd, a nest in the gravel bed, and lay eggs. Once the spawn occurs, adult salmon die having completed their life cycle.

Chinook salmon spawning habitat is now limited due to the construction of dams. Dams form barriers to reach native salmon spawning areas. Fish hatcheries have been constructed to mitigate the loss of upstream, native salmon spawning areas but hatcheries don’t mitigate the loss of salmon to upstream ancestral lands, nor allow natural selection to occur.

WHERE THE WILD ROAM seeks to educate and inform audiences about wildlife and wild places in a new way –with an adventurous, heartfelt, and hosted show that’s free to stream across social media.

Whether you like to hunt, hike, camp, flyfish, paddle, raft or kayak whitewater, mountain bike, backpack, bird watch, or simply enjoy the outdoors, we can all agree that we need to protect wild places and wildlife.

Throughout our first season, we will be highlighting wildlife wild places, and wildlife habitat including: Grasslands, wolves, Wild and Scenic rivers, the Sierra Nevada, palm deserts, Owyhee Canyonlands, and redwood forests.