Salmon Spotted Far Upstream After Historic Klamath River Dam Removal [Video]

Less than two months following the removal of four hydroelectric dams along the Klamath River, some of its salmon have swum upstream in Oregon to start spawning for the first time in over a century.

The first salmon was spotted October 3 on sonar, swimming through the former site of Siskiyou County’s Iron Gate Dam, reported the San Francisco Chronicle. Ever since that initial sighting, scientists say dozens to maybe hundreds of Chinook salmon have swum through the site — the southernmost of the four.

“The salmon remember,” Frankie Myers, vice chairperson of the Yurok Tribe, told the San Francisco Chronicle.

The purpose of the $500 million project was to restore the river’s natural flow and revive wildlife — including the salmon — in the Klamath River basin.

Since the dams were dismantled, scientists from Tribes, conservation organizations and state and federal governments have been watching for fishswimming by the former dam sites …