Page 134 - The Miracle of Migration in Animals

THE MIRACLE OF MIGRATION IN ANIMALS

Spawning Migrations

Besides foraging, marine fish also migrate for the purpose of
spawning, however much the form of migration may differ according
to the species. Some fish migrate on a daily or seasonal basis to reach
suitable breeding grounds, because some fish spawn every day and
others every month. The journeys to their spawning areas may be
short or trans-oceanic.
In some species, there are five to ten members in these migra-
tions, and in others thousands come together. All form schools, as
though they knew that moving together is advantageous for them.
Research conducted on herring gives us some important ideas

on their breeding and migration. First, the fish migrate simultane-
ously on two planes. One is upward and downward, tracing the
movement of the plankton the fish feed on, and the other is the circu-
lar migration to their spawning areas.
These fish stay at the spawning ground for a few months of the
year and then disperse. Not all herrings spawn at the same place at
the same time. They gather together at different times and places, but
always in great schools, and the adults arrive at the same spawning
ground every year. The spawning grounds are determined according
to the abundance of food—thus whirlpools and shores are usually
preferred.
At every stage of the migration journey, decision-making mech-

anisms come into play at the right time, the right place, in the right
way. No species of fish has the intelligence to make decisions based
on which circumstances are appropriate. The truth is that at all stages,
the supreme intelligence evident belongs to God, the Creator of all
living creatures. Concerning those who search for a creator other than
God, the following is revealed in the Qur’an:

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