salmon spawning
Fish breeding migration
Salmon spawning is the reproductive process in which salmon migrate from ocean waters to freshwater rivers and streams to lay and fertilize eggs.
The journey often covers hundreds of miles upstream, with fish leaping waterfalls and navigating rapids.
Most Pacific salmon species die shortly after spawning, their bodies providing nutrients to the ecosystem.
We watched the salmon spawning in the creek.
- alevinLarval salmon stage
- gravel bedsLayers of loose pebbles
- homing instinctInnate ability to return
- migrationMovement to new territory
- fertilizationGamete fusion creating zygote
freshwater streams · hatcheries · fish ladders · egg · upstream · water temperature · mass die-off · dead fish · embryogenesis · life cycle · estuaries · Columbia River · tributary · watershed · mating · homecoming · courtship displays · Pacific