Page 45 - Wonderful Creatures: Children! Have You Ever Thought ?

The point at which salmon

aim to arrive is the place
they were born. But make no

mistake: it’s not just a short distan-
ce. The distance that the fish needs to

cover to get to its destination may be
up to 1,500 km (930 miles), which means

a demanding journey of several months. There are many obstac-
les that the fish has to overcome during this journey.

The first, and maybe the most important problem that

needs to be solved is to find where the river down which
the fish swam during its first journey empties into the sea.

Based on this, the fish will determine the return route to follow.
Amazingly, none of the salmon makes a mistake and they all find

the river’s opening to the sea right first time.

Entering the stream, the salmon starts to steadfastly swim against

the current. This time its task is harder because, whereas it could
easily pass down waterfalls with the assistance of the current the

first time, it has to climb up over them this time. What the sal-
mon in the pictures in this chapter intends by leaping upriver is

to reach the place where it was spawned. During this journey the
salmon may need to swim through shallow waters that

leave its upper fin above water. These shallow waters are
full of birds, bears and many other wild predators.

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