Spawn & Die

Is this disturbing to you or can you get past the subject and be delighted with the colors that nature gives us even after death?

Last week was my annual fishing trip to Alaska. This has been going on since I first took my oldest son, Ryan, on a fishing/float trip in Western Alaska in 1994.  Back then we knew nothing about salmon or much about fly fishing for them and we were determined to learn.  With the help of our guides throughout the years, we have learned a lot about this sport.  A fabulous by-product is that the freezer is usually full of freshly caught & flash frozen wild salmon.  Last week our luck was with us and we came home with over 300 pounds now sitting safely in the freezer

Of the 5 species of Pacific salmon, the Kings (Chinook) run first, then the Chums and Sockeye and Pinks. Finally, beginning in August come the Silvers (Coho). In September Alaska gets a 2nd run of Silver Salmon which generally run larger than the average fish in the August run. By September, the other salmon have already spawned and the dead carcasses litter the lakes & streams. In this photo are the remnants of the Sockeye which spawned in Kenai Lake.  I tried to take something generally disgusting and make it into something interesting.  I look at this one a a still-life instead of a riverbank covered with rotting salmon carcasses which have been ravaged by birds, bears and other critters in the wild.  What does it look like to you?