ABOVE: Salmon bones deposited by a bear in Great Bear Rainforest in British Columbia
BILL HEATH
Monumental western red cedar (Thuja plicata) and Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) cloak the coastal rainforests along glacier-carved fjords from California to Alaska. Resident killer whales (Orcinus orca) frolic in the cold waters after feasting on their favorite Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) traveling from the ocean to their natal streams. Ferocious grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis) pluck fish from fast-moving waters where they wait for the arrival of annual salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.), and take their meal to a secluded spot in the forest to eat their favorite parts. The scraps of the carcasses dissolve into the forest floor, and the nutrients are absorbed by the trees through their roots. Salmon rely upon large trees to modulate water flow and stream temperature in exchange for nutrients the fish deliver to the forest in timeless reciprocity. The tendrils ...
