Salmon Run Creek

Salmon Run Creek is an original illustration set in Coastal British Columbia, Canada. It lies in high latitudes, where the climate is oceanic — mild, wet through the year.

A dense run of crimson salmon packs a shallow stream, several caught mid-leap at a low cascade. Giant moss-sleeved conifer trunks wall both banks, and ferns crowd the water's edge under cool golden evening light.

Why do these salmon turn red?

The red is a spawning colour — these fish stopped feeding on entering fresh water and are running on stored reserves. That mass return delivers ocean nutrients into the forest, which is part of why the trees grow so large. Conifers this size, sleeved in moss to the ground, mark a temperate rainforest: mild, wet, and rarely freezing.

Terpano is a free daily geography puzzle. You study one original illustration, place a pin on a borderless terrain map, and see how close you were. There is no account and no sign-up; progress stays in your own browser. It plays in 11 languages.