the.com/salmon
a fish that climbs waterfalls just to die where it was born
means A large pink-fleshed fish, prized as food, that hatches in freshwater rivers, lives in the sea, and swims back upstream to spawn.
from From Latin 'salmo,' which may be linked to 'salire,' to leap — fitting for a fish famous for hurling itself up rapids — though that connection is uncertain. It reached English through Old French 'saumon,' and for centuries the 'l' was silent (the older spelling 'samoun' shows it); later scholars, fond of tidying English up to look more Latin, re-inserted the 'l' on the page even though most speakers still don't say it.
- homing instinct
- navigates back using Earth's magnetic field and smell
- color secret
- flesh turns pink only from eating shrimp and krill
- final journey
- stops eating, swims upstream, spawns, then dies
- high jumper
- leaps over 12 feet up rushing waterfalls
- bear economy
- their carcasses fertilize entire forests after death
chinook salmon — largest pacific salmon species, weighs up to 126 lbs, migrates columbia river
atlantic salmon — endangered species in north atlantic, once caught commercially in ireland and iceland
sockeye salmon — bright red spawning fish, bristol bay alaska produces 40% of u.s. supply