The Salmon Life Cycle

The salmon life cycle:

1. The salmons life cycle begins in fresh water where the eggs are laid in the gravel. After they hatch they remain hidden until they are grown into fry.

2. They can stay in their freshwater stream for up to a year, other species can migrate to nearby lakes, before they head out to sea. Depending on how well the streams and estuaries are preserved dictates how many salmon emerge to grow up in oceans.

3. Different species can spend years in the ocean traveling around for food before migrating back to their spawning stream.

4. Traveling back to their spawning stream takes up a lot of energy, their bodies ready for reproducing. Females will build nests once they find their spawning grounds. After a females mates with a male they both die to provide nutrients for the ocean.

I did not know the salmon died after reproducing, that's very fascinating. It really puts into perspective how our fishing of salmon can impact their numbers.

Endangered and threatened species are important to keep track of, the loss of individuals can impact genetic variation causing problems in the long run for a whole species. Dwindling population can lead to the collapse of other species that feed off of or are fed by the failing species. Whole ecosystems can fall from the loss of one species.