Annually, several creeks and rivers from Alaska to British Columbia fill with spawning salmon. The miracle of a salmon run is an awesome sight.

First the salmon arrive, from a few fish to hundreds and sometimes thousands of fish, until the river seems saturated with salmon. As the salmon get busy laying and fertilizing eggs, the predators arrive on the scene.

An estimated 137 species of animals depend on salmon. The list is long and impressive: killer whales (orcas), brown and black bears, otters, wolves and bald eagles are among them.

The bald eagles pictured below feasted on a salmon run in Southeast Alaska.

As shown below, all eyes are on the salmon. The eagles sometimes fly so close overhead that they don't fit in the picture!

Once they locate a salmon - usually they prefer to go for the dead ones (it's less trouble than catching a live one right?) - they start their feast and are highly protective of their catch.

They sure are powerful and impressive animals, fishing a salmon out of the creek almost as big as themselves!

I wonder what this eagle was looking for ...

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