Thursday 12th July 2012 ­ Vancouver: Salmon & Suspension Bridges

Again assisted by the lovely lady in the gift shop at the hotel I booked a tour to the Capilano Suspension Bridge.  The favoured tour to take from Vancouver is to Victoria on Vancouver Island mainly because of the whale watching opportunities but I was feeling pretty much ‘whaled out’ by now so decided instead to test my head for heights with the Capilano Suspension Bridge.

This bridge has been a popular tourist attraction since it was originally built in 1889. A pioneering Scotsman named George Grant Mackay built a small cabin overlooking the Capilano Canyon, drawn by the wild beauty of the place.  Access to the river below was almost impossible so it is said that to make it easier for his son who loved fishing Mackay built the bridge.

The current bridge dates from 1956 and is the 4^th to be constructed on this site. It hangs 230ft above the canyon and spans 450ft making it one of the longest suspension bridges in the world.   It swayed like mad especially when invaded with a large group of German tourists who insisted on stopping every 10ft to pose for photos.  Mind you it didn’t sway as much as the suspension bridge at Shibaozhai in China!  Some great views down to the Capilano River but I was glad to get to the other side and enjoy a wander through the old growth woods with their Douglas and Sitka Spruce and Western Cedar trees all enjoyed from the ‘tree-tops’ walk suspended some 100tf above the forest floor – well apart from the German’s who seemed to be vying for the most stupid pose possible at every opportunity!

Back across the bridge and heart pounding I took the new cliff path – a pathway suspended round the cliffs and jutting out some 20ft over the canyon.  I had thought this might be glass floored but thankfully it was a steel walkway with high sides and only a small area of glass floor.  Some more spectacular views of the canyon before re-joining the bus for a trip to a Capilano Salmon Hatchery.

The Capilano River has been dammed just above the suspension bridge to create a reservoir to supply water to Vancouver.  The headwaters of the river are a natural spawning ground for all 5 species of Pacific Salmon.  Clearly the dam blocked the way of these magnificent fish to their spawning grounds so a fish hatchery was built below the dam to protect and encourage salmon stocks.  Drawn by their extraordinary instinct to spawn in the waters where they were born the salmon now enter a fish ladder which tricks them into believing they are climbing towards the head waters but in easy jumps of about 2ft.  It was amazing to watch the thousands of salmon jumping up this fish ladder which eventually leads to a holding tank in which the salmon think they are now in their head waters.  They swim slowly towards the head of the tank where they are taken out of the water and females stripped of their eggs and the males milked for their sperm.  This kills the fish, which may seem brutal but after spawning the salmon naturally die any way.  The salmon fry are hatched and grown on in large tanks fed by the Capilano River water until they are ready to be released for their epic journeys out to the Pacific, returning in 5 to 6 years to spawn in the hatchery!

For a number of years the salmon carcasses were taken to the local dump but it was noticed that the local trees started to stunt and of course recently it has been shown that the carcasses of the dying salmon are food not only for local bald eagles but also provide nutrients for the trees.   Today the carcasses are put back into the river to restore the natural balance.