'Unheard of': Tens of thousands of salmon found dead in B.C. creek as drought conditions persist
B.C.'s sunny, dry weather is leading to major drought conditions in parts of the province, causing devastating impacts for some wildlife.
Video posted to social media recently shows tens of thousands of dead salmon lying at the bottom of a dry creek in Bella Bella.
William Housty, conservation manager with the Heiltsuk Nation, told CTV News Vancouver the sight's "unheard of."
"Nobody … that's living here in the community has ever seen anything like this before," Housty said.
The video was captured last week by German researcher Sarah Mund, who was working in the community, but locals didn't see it until Monday. They said they're devastated as they rely on the watershed for food.
"We all knew that it's been a really dry end to the summer and beginning to the fall, but we really didn't anticipate that things were at the magnitude and the scale they're at right now," Housty said.
Salmon experts say it's a growing problem that won't go away easily.
"Unfortunately something I think we're going to see more often as global warming continues at the pace that it's at," Lina Azeez with Watershed Watch Salmon Society told CTV News.
Azeez, who lives in Port Coquitlam, said she's also seen the shocking impacts of the drought in her own backyard.
"I saw a little juvenile salmon at the bottom end of Hyde Creek. As I biked along it, it just suddenly dried out, it was bone dry," she said.
"When salmon go, the building blocks of our coastal ecosystems start to fall apart. We depend on salmon, bears depend on salmon, forests depend on salmon."
Parts of the province have seen record breaking high temperatures in recent days. While no records were broken Tuesday, 16 were on Monday, including many that were decades old.
The continued dry weather is also impacting wildfire conditions in the province, including at a Metro Vancouver park. Crews expect to be at Minnekhada Regional Park for several days, battling a 12-hectare blaze.
The various wildfires have led to air-quality advisories in the province.
"We've been stuck in this (weather) pattern for quite some time and it's expected to continue at least for another several days," Bobby Sekhon with Environment Canada told CTV News Vancouver.
"It's possible that into early next week we might see a bit of a shift in the pattern."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Health Canada to change sperm donor screening rules for men who have sex with men
Health Canada will change its longstanding policy restricting gay and bisexual men from donating to sperm banks in Canada, CTV News has learned. The federal health agency has adopted a revised directive removing the ban on gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, effective May 8.
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer denied bail after being charged with killing Canadian couple
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
LeBlanc says he plans to run in next election, under Trudeau's leadership
Cabinet minister Dominic LeBlanc says he plans to run in the next election as a candidate under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's leadership, amid questions about his rumoured interest in succeeding his longtime friend for the top job.
U.S. vetoes a widely supported UN resolution backing full membership for Palestine
The United States has vetoed a widely backed UN resolution that would have paved the way for full United Nations membership for the state of Palestine.
Sports columnist apologizes for 'oafish' comments directed at Caitlin Clark. The controversy isn’t over
A male columnist has apologized for a cringeworthy moment during former University of Iowa superstar and college basketball’s highest scorer Caitlin Clark’s first news conference as an Indiana Fever player.
Bayer recalls hydraSense baby product over 'potential contamination'
Bayer announced Thursday it is recalling two lots of its hydraSense Baby Nasal Care Easydose due to a potential contamination.
Cat found on Toronto Pearson airport runway 3 days after going missing
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Grandparent scam suspects had ties to Italian organized crime, police allege
A group of suspects that allegedly defrauded seniors across Ontario and other parts of Canada using a so-called emergency grandparent scam appear to have ties to 'Italian traditional organized crime,' according to an investigator involved in the OPP-led probe.
Trend Line Anger, pessimism towards federal government reach six-year high: Nanos survey
Most Canadians in March reported feeling angry or pessimistic towards the federal government than at any point in the last six years, according to a survey by Nanos Research.