Thousands of chinook salmon are making their way through the Ballard Locks right now, much to the delight of tourists and children. In fact, some of the chinooks are the size of small children.

Today, several county, state and federal leaders including King County Executive Ron Sims held a press briefing near the fish ladder to praise the progress of restoring chinook habitats and migration. This year, more than 26,000 chinook are expected to move through the Locks toward spawning grounds in the Cedar and Sammamish river watersheds. Last year more than 31,000 chinook poured through the Locks — the highest return since 1970.

“This is the second year in a row of very strong returns for the fish, and we think that some of the habitat restoration work and fish passage improvements that we’ve been doing over the years in the Lake Washington/Sammamish/Cedar River Watershed are beginning to bear fruit,” explains Doug Williams from the King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks.

Chinook salmon were listed under the Endangered Species Act in 1999.