After recently visiting Sacramento’s Howe River Access, a local was shocked to see hordes of dead fish in the shallow waters and washed up on the shore. Without being dramatic, this isn’t exactly a normal occurrence and it may lead to assumptions as to how the fish ended up in such a bizarre situation.

This led the individual to photograph the dead fish as evidence and ask about it on social media. Here, they wrote: ‘I went for a little walk at the river access point closest to my house today and there was an absolute ton of these huge fish washed up at shore. I come to the river all the time and have been since I moved to this neighborhood a decade ago and I’ve never seen so many huge fish or dead things all at once. Is this a normal thing?’

Although this may look strange, there’s actually a very mundane explanation which is part of natures cycle of life. In short, this is part of the journey of salmon. Here, salmon take a journey called spawning which involves their journey from the sea to inland rivers.

While this journey is essential to their species’ survival, it is also incredibly demanding and dangerous. Many salmon succumb to the physical demands of swimming upstream, while others fall prey to predators, disease, or environmental hazards. After spawning, many salmon die from exhaustion or starvation, unable to return to the ocean to feed.