The Buddy System

Toronto may be the only major city in the world where you can see many species of fish jump over a river dam. The Humber River is home to salmon, trout, and hybrids that spend the summer in Lake Ontario, and return to the upper river during their annual spawning run. Three small man-made dams prevent invasive lamprey eels from reaching the fish’s final spawning grounds. Chinook and Coho Salmon, big, strong upstream swimmers, only occasionally overcome the rushing flow through the dam’s special fish gap. In a single October day, I watched as at least one hundred fish of various sizes and species tried to leap to the upper level of the falls. No more than two succeeded in their attempts. These two took a completely different approach by forgetting about the jump altogether, settling for an underwater route with a friend. They did not reach their target, but earned full marks for style.