Superfish: Salmon

On the Surface

a wild, wild life

Wild salmon have a wild lifecycle by design.
Most are born in the river, go to the ocean, and somehow find their way back to the same river later in life.

EXPLORE THEIR LIFECYCLE

The challenges they face, and the ways they respond, are always changing…

Riverbed
beginnings

They hatch in cold river waters. Very soon they’re beginning to practice their athletic prowess, learning how to look for food and avoid predators like birds and otters.

An adult female sockeye salmon digs a nest (called a redd) to protect her eggs.

Salmon eggs need water between 41º-48º to hatch.

A river otter catches juvenile salmon and finishes his meal on shore.

Like all wildlife today, salmon will face obstacles presented by climate change from the start.

Water that’s too warm weakens them, and brings new species into their path that can wipe out juvenile populations.

Striped bass spawning event, Miramichi River. Young salmon weren’t built to out-swim this.

Climate change also causes droughts that can leave eggs and juveniles more exposed, and erosion events that deteriorate the quality of their early life.

But these fish are hardwired to travel out to sea, and some will find a way.

Follow along for a glimpse of the resilience SALMON have in store.

Ocean
residence

When it’s time to migrate to the ocean, salmon’s bodies morph inside and out.

01

As juveniles their vertical stripes and spots help them camouflage in the river.

02

Adolescent salmon, called smolts, leave the river and head for the ocean.

03

Their gills transform to be able to pump out excess sodium.

04

They lose the stripes that helped them camouflage in the river...

05

...in favor of bright silvery scales that let them hide in the open ocean.

PARR

SMOLT

But as a salmon’s body becomes more complex, so does its life.

With the rise of farming Atlantic salmon in sea cages near their migratory paths, juveniles are often exposed to sea lice and diseases that can kill them.

As Atlantic salmon have become ubiquitous in the grocery store, they’ve become increasingly rare in the wild.

For those that make it past, the ride gets even wilder.

They’ll become underwater ultra marathoners, many swimming thousands of miles as they avoid fishing nets and predators like sea lions and killer whales.

After 1 to 3 years at sea, nature has hardwired salmon to swim back to their home river, but warming waters can weaken them and their chances of making it.

Still, when climate change closes a door, some salmon find a window…

Return
journeys

As they begin the trek home, salmon’s journey of adaptation is just getting started. In this phase they radically transform once again.

06

In this phase they radically transform once again.

07

Their internal systems revert to freshwater mode, and their color and even body shape changes- dramatically, in the case of sockeye salmon.

08

Males turn bright red, grow a hooked snout and large “fighting teeth” to compete for females.

On their journey towards home, adult salmon may pass the same toxic sea cages they did as juveniles.

Tears in the giant underwater nets are common due to deterioration, storms, or attacking predators. The farmed fish that escape pose another threat to wild Atlantic salmon: interbreeding.

Tears in the giant underwater nets are common.

Wild Atlantic salmon may breed with farmed salmon who escape from the pens.

This interbreeding weakens the species’ DNA and ability to adapt.

They also face challenges with hatcheries, which are aimed at helping population numbers, but may do the opposite.

Overcrowding, disease, and unnatural competition with true wild salmon are some of the unintended by-products of this complicated industry.

Hatcheries attract opportunistic new predators like this humpback whale.

Their path has many more obstacles, literally.

There are dams and urbanized streams that block their journey. If they make it to their home river, many animals will be hoping to make a meal out of them. 

Many species rely on salmon for sustenance.

As they swim onward, many salmon find warming waters which are no longer hospitable.

Natural riverbed habitats are frequently deteriorated by practices like logging, mining, overfishing and pollution.

Here is where we learn
that their true superpower is not their sense of direction.

It’s their sense of survival.

Because despite being known for swimming homeward no matter what, some salmon are flipping the script.

Breaking with natural history, these rebel pink salmon swim far off course, finding virgin rivers from melting glaciers and starting new salmon populations in the newly formed rivers.

If salmon are able to out-adapt climate change, it will be because of them.

The circle of life

Every Spring, at the mouth of the Copper River, millions of Western Sandpipers stop over on their Northern Migration. Why here? Because salmon were here.

Their decomposing bodies produce nutrient-rich biofilm in the mud, which the birds lick for fuel. With the energy gained, they’ll be able to complete their journey, a critical one for maintaining balance in the ecosystem.

Meanwhile, along riverbanks all around the world, plant life is nourished and forest cover improves because of the nutrients from salmon who die and drift to the river bottom.

Even in death, salmon support life on Earth.

BACK TO THE TOP

Follow Rick Rosenthal

Below the surface

Beyond the surface

On the Surface

On the Surface

Wild salmon have a wild lifecycle by design.
Most are born in the river, go to the ocean, and somehow find their way back to the same river later in life.

Like all wildlife today, salmon will face obstacles presented by climate change from the start.

01

02

03

04

05

But as a salmon’s body becomes more complex, so does its life.

With the rise of farming Atlantic salmon in sea cages near their migratory paths, juveniles are often exposed to sea lice and diseases that can kill them.

For those that make it past, the ride gets even wilder.

06

07

08

Tears in the giant underwater nets are common due to deterioration, storms, or attacking predators. The farmed fish that escape pose another threat to wild Atlantic salmon: interbreeding.

Their path has many more obstacles, literally.

As they swim onward, many salmon find warming waters which are no longer hospitable.

This is the not-at-all-normal life of a normal salmon, but our story is not finished. Keep exploring for more incredible stories and ways you can help them.

Follow Rick Rosenthal

Below the surface

Beyond the surface

On the Surface

On the Surface

Wild salmon have a wild lifecycle by design. Most are born in the river, go to the ocean, and somehow find their way back to the same river later in life.

Like all wildlife today, salmon will face obstacles presented by climate change from the start.

01

02

03

04

05

But as a salmon’s body becomes more complex, so does its life.With the rise of farming Atlantic salmon in sea cages near their migratory paths, juveniles are often exposed to sea lice and diseases that can kill them.

For those that make it past, the ride gets even wilder.

06

07

08

Tears in the giant underwater nets are common due to deterioration, storms, or attacking predators. The farmed fish that escape pose another threat to wild Atlantic salmon: interbreeding.

Their path has many more obstacles, literally.

As they swim onward, many salmon find warming waters which are no longer hospitable.

This is the not-at-all-normal life of a normal salmon, but our story is not finished. Keep exploring for more incredible stories and ways you can help them.

Wild salmon have a wild lifecycle by design.
Most are born in the river, go to the ocean, and somehow find their way back to the same river later in life.

But as a salmon’s body becomes more complex, so does its life.

With the rise of farming Atlantic salmon in sea cages near their migratory paths, juveniles are often exposed to sea lice and diseases that can kill them.