A salmon tanker truck took a sharp turn too fast and crashed on an Oregon road. The truck was transporting 102,000 salmon from the state's Lookingglass Hatchery.
The fish were scheduled to be released in the Imnaha River to supplement tribal and sport harvesting, but instead the salmon made a break for it.
Of the 102,000 smolts, 25,000 died on the shores of Lookingglass Creek.
But their deaths were not in vain, as the other 77,000 hit the creek swimming for freedom.
Lookingglass Creek is a tributary to the Grande Ronde River.
Before the construction of several hydro-electric dams, the Grand Ronde River used to be a huge salmon run, but for several years there were hardly any that could traverse the damns for spawning.
However, in 2017, the Nez Perce Tribe and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife began to reintroduce salmon to the river, and in 2021, some of the dams were removed to help encourage repopulation.
Accidentally dumping 77,000 salmon into one of the river's tributaries should bump up those efforts nicely.
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