Follow the Journey Home: Survive the Sound Starts Swimming October 12
For 10 years, Long Live the Kings has been using its unique ‘Survive the Sound’ game to teach local students and communities about the issues facing salmon and steelhead. Each spring, tens of thousands of players pick their favorite fish characters, form teams, and compete to see whose fish will be among the lucky few to survive the migration from the river to the Pacific Ocean. The entire game is essentially fantasy football for fish!
For the first time, fans of the game can experience an entirely different migration – the journey home. We are thrilled to present Survive the Sound: Homecoming, a fall-themed take on the beloved fish tracking game that follows a small group of adult salmon on their final migration upstream.
Salmon returning to our rivers is a quintessential part of autumn in the Pacific Northwest, and we wanted to celebrate that with our selection of fish. Each fish character available in Survive the Sound: Homecoming was designed to highlight the many things that make this such a wonderful season – from fall classics like Halloween and football to PNW-centric details like chanterelles and golden larches. There is a fish in the race for everyone to enjoy.
Not only have the fish been updated to celebrate the season, but the in-game experience has some new additions, too! Players can now explore a new section of the map that highlights popular public salmon-viewing spots throughout the region. If you love salmon and want to connect with them in the real world, be sure to check out the updated map and find a place in your community to watch these brave fish swim and leap their way upstream. As always, the game will be filled with ways to learn fun facts about salmon, their spawning process, ways we can help, and much more.
As in the usual spring migration, all the characters in the game are based on real fish that were tagged and tracked throughout their journey. Rather than juvenile steelhead, however, this event will follow the migrations of 10 adult Chum salmon as they head back home toward the Skokomish River after multiple years at sea. These fish are already proven survivors, having overcome the obstacles of their outward migration and the dangers of life in the open ocean. They have just one final challenge left: make it back home to spawn!
Of course, that spawning journey won’t be easy – predators, pollution, anglers, physical obstacles, and more all remain in their path. And even if they do make it to the finish line, they’ll still have reached the end of their life cycle. Pacific Salmon die after spawning, having expended every ounce of effort and energy just to make it home. Their bodies then decompose, becoming vital nutrients that enrich the ecosystems the next generation of salmon relies on. Next time you’re outdoors enjoying the rivers and forests of the Pacific Northwest, be sure to thank a spawning salmon for helping to provide the nutrients that make such a lush and vibrant ecosystem possible.
Survive the Sound: Homecoming will run from Monday, October 12, to Friday, October 16. Each day that week, players can visit the website to check their fish’s progress. Some fish may fall along the way, but those that make it to the end will be able to spawn and leave their legacy for the next generation of fish.
Registrations are open now, so head over to www.SurviveTheSound.org to pick your favorite fish and sign up today!