Life Cycle of the Salmon

1. The life cycle of the salmon starts when the parent salmon spawn babies. Once big enough, the fish then partake in out migration, remembering the spot and smell of the place in which they spawned because this is the place they will come back to in the future to breed and die. Once they grow to the appropriate size, due to a change in their kidneys, salmon make the change from fresh water to salt water and head out to the ocean. They instinctually know when it is time to head back to where they started from to reproduce. This involves weeks of struggle going against the current up hundreds of miles of river.

2. I was amazed at learning that salmon go through a change that allows a change from fresh to salt water and that this process was done in the kidneys. Whenever I think of salmon I think of the National Geographic documentaries that show large bears in the middle of these rushing streams catching the salmon by hand. I never knew how much time they spent in the ocean or that most of their adult time there.

3. We should be concerned about these endangered fish species because they are one piece to a much larger puzzle. When the salmon die, it creates insects for their babies to eat, and their dead bodies provide food for other animals. Also, if the salmon were to die off, it's not just because of "overfishing". It would mean that our waterways are so damaged that they cannot support the life of a fish that has been in our water for many many years.