Salmon

Salmon Life Cycle

The stages of the salmon life cycle are Eggs, Alevin, Fry, Fingerling, Smolt, and Adult Salmon.

The first stage in a salmon’s life is when they are eggs. The mother travels back to where she was born, and lays around 2000-8000 eggs in a nest called a redd. The eggs are a pinkish color, and about the size of a pea, and they take about 4 months to hatch.

The next stage is called the Alevin stage, when they first hatch from their eggs. They stay in their nest until spring or the beginning of summer, and they have a large yolk sac that hangs from their heads. The sac is full of the vitamins and other things that the salmon needs. The sac gets smaller in size as the salmon ages, until it eventually will disappear.

Fry is the next stage. This stage is when they leave the redd and go out into the water. They stay near the bottom of the water because the current isn't as strong, and eat small insects and things, since their yolk sac is nearly gone. They are not much larger than the size of a fir needle, and a lot of other animals eat them. Their skin has stripes that camouflage them so that they can stay protected.

Next is the fingerling stage. In this stage, they finally begin their journey towards the ocean. They are now about the size of the average adult’s index finger, and their stripes are more visible. They will have to be very careful to watch out for predators that want to kill them.

The Smolt stage is the next stage. The Smolt travels all the way to the estuary where the river meets the ocean, as their body is preparing itself for the transition between freshwater and saltwater, and they are finding new foods to eat. They also have to prepare themselves for new predators, such as humans. In the estuary is where they mature into adult salmon.

The final stage is Adult Salmon. They spend up to 3 years in the ocean, and they have to be very aware of human predators. When it is the right time, they travel back up the river where they first came from, and come back to the place where they were born. When they get there, they are very determined on laying their eggs. After they lay their eggs, they lie down and die.