WDFW's wildlife camera effort was created to provide an opportunity for people to connect to nature in a fun and accessible way! Viewing wildlife through a free online platform allows people to view species up close that they may otherwise never see. WDFW is proud to support and promote our community organizations who manage these cameras and support Washington wildlife through their conservation and engagement efforts.
Hood Canal steelhead cam
These steelhead are part of an innovative conservation program that Long Live The Kings manages to support the recovery of Hood Canal’s native steelhead. Hatched from wild-spawned eggs, they are being raised at our facility on the west side of Hood Canal to help give natural populations a boost. When they are mature, they are released to spawn in the rivers and migrate to sea. (Video of releases: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVCeZLVaRvc
Thanks in part to a WDFW Watchable Wildlife grant, this camera from our partners at Long Live the Kings shows an up-close glimpse into the lives of Hood Canal steelhead. Long Live the Kings is a Seattle-based nonprofit organization dedicated to restoring wild salmon and steelhead and supporting sustainable fishing. For more information, visit lltk.org.
With funding from revenue from the Wild on Washington: Eagle license plate – one of a handful of WDFW’s specialized license plates benefiting wildlife conservation – Watchable Wildlife grants support wildlife viewing opportunities and foster an appreciation for and stewardship of wildlife. Visit our Watchable Wildlife grants web page to learn more.
Issaquah salmon cam
These coho and chinook salmon have returned from their 2 to 5 year stay in the ocean to the place they were born – in this case, the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery, one of WDFW's most-visited hatcheries. Their instinct drives them upstream until they find the right place to spawn – to dig a redd, or nest in the gravel of their natal stream, lay and fertilize their eggs, and bury them to keep predators from eating them. In this case, their path upstream is blocked by a weir (the dam the salmon are trying to jump), re-directing them up a fish ladder (not visible in video), rather than continuing up Issaquah Creek. At the top of the fish ladder the eggs and sperm (milt) will be collected, the eggs hatched and the fry raised and fed until they are able to migrate down to the ocean to repeat this cycle. We do this to increase survival rates of the salmon that will hatch from these eggs. Water quality challenges and predators are a threat to eggs and salmon after they hatch. A typical survival rate from egg to the start of the ocean journey is about 5% for wild salmon. The typical survival rate for a hatchery-reared egg, fry and smolt is greater than 85%. This is why hatcheries are an essential part of salmon management.
Led by our partners at the Friends of Issaquah Hatchery (FISH), this fish cam provides viewers a unique opportunity to view the fish at WDFW’s Issaquah Hatchery. Friends of the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery is an Issaquah-based nonprofit committed to protecting salmon and ensuring their survival for future generations through education, advocacy, and outreach. To learn more about FISH, visit issaquahfish.org.
Part of the funding for this camera set-up comes from the Puget Sound Recreational Fisheries Enhancement Fund, which invests in conserving, enhancing, and promoting recreational fisheries within Puget Sound and Lake Washington. Puget Sound Recreational Fisheries Enhancement Fund is supported by a portion of the sales from the marine/combination fishing license. Learn more on the Puget Sound Recreational Fisheries Enhancement Fund Advisory Group web page. FISH also thanks the King County Flood Control District and the Watershed Resource Inventory Area 8 (WRIA 8, which encompasses the Cedar River, Issaquah Creek, and Bear Creek) for the grants that make this service available.