Along the coastal rivers, from Vancouver up to the Alaska coast, eagles commonly rely on the late chum salmon runs for their sustenance this time of year. And locally, it is common to see them in the Fraser River Valley where they usually hunt and scavenge for their feed. Due to disastrously low chum salmon runs over the past four years, however, eagles have been forced to seek out food elsewhere.

“They are desperately looking for something as an alternative,” states David Hancock, a local wildlife biologist. Hancock has noted higher numbers of eagles returning to the Vancouver landfill yearly, and decreasing numbers returning to their traditional coastal river feasting grounds. He suggests this is due to the decline of the coastal chum stocks. He also hypothesizes that the eagles are not only seeking out protein sources from the landfill in Delta, but they are also migrating as far south as the Mississippi River basin in search of fish. [read full article at the Vancouver Sun and the Agassiz Harrison Observer]

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