Spawning Salmon of Schoodic Lake Underwater Footage

@MFEGoingDeep this is some super shallow footage right among the redds the salmon have been making which you can spot with all the cleaned up gravel in this area. One particular Salmon which happens to be one of the larger in this video has an adipose fin clip which I point out. This fish would receive this clip when handled at the Milford Dam on the Penobscot River when migrating up and coming through the fishway, making this a sea run Atlantic Salmon. I had sent pictures to the Maine IFW Biologist that oversees the area to get some confirmation on this. Calculating the path it would need to take from where it would’ve been clipped to here looked to be approximately 40 miles of river and stream. The outlet dam on the lake which is opened each fall to let down the lake level gives these fish the chance to make their way in as the gates open from the bottom and theyre able to push through the immense current. I had always heard of the occasional one being caught in the lake and growing up fishing here a lot over the years I was always fascinated by that and was really excited to see this one having that clip as it really was my only way to visually identify one. Also neat to see this salmon interacting with the other landlocked salmon that live in the lake year round. There’s always some that are stocked each spring but this would certainly add some genetic diversity to the population with successful spawning. Makes me wonder if this one could’ve originated here, left and came back? I certainly have a lot more questions I’ll hopefully have some answers to someday.
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[@lucasraven9893]

Very interesting.

[@wyattford6248]

Great video! Was this taken in one of the tributaries or in the lake itself? I’d be curious to see spawning success in still water if that’s the case

[@MFEGoingDeep]

Thanks, it’s on the edge of a trib but still part of the main lake. They definitely seem to favor the area and I’ve heard of some others similar on the lake as well I’m hoping to find this coming fall.

[@joeazzarelli9043]

Do you know if the Atlantic salmon can (or in fact, do) procreate with the landlocked salmon? If so, would the offspring be able to also reproduce, or would the offspring be sterile (like a tiger muskie, for example)?
Interesting observation!

[@MFEGoingDeep]

As much as I’d like to say I know for a fact this is happening I honestly don’t know for sure. I think it’s absolutely possible and I’m really interested in it and hope to learn more about it! I’ll certainly be checking things out more in the area especially the coming fall again to see what things look like. Between the videos and images I’m wondering if there will be some I might recognize from this past fall as they all have unique spot patterns to help identify them. I appreciate the questions and next time I have the chance to talk with the biologists in the area I’ll have to ask them!