Page 63 - Engineering in Nature

Harun Yahya

river that years earlier, they descended to reach the sea. No obstacle
can deter them. When they come across waterfalls, they leap into the
air and continue on their way. They are capable of surmounting ob-
stacles as much as 3 meters (9 feet) high.

Their objective at the end of this return journey is the place where
they hatched, where they will lay their own eggs. Atlantic salmon un-
dertake this journey every year, while the other species migrate only
once in a lifetime. These migrations present a number of difficulties,
which we can briefly summarize.
The first of these is the distance the fish need to travel. In order to
reach their natal rivers the salmon need to swim thousands of kilome-
ters. For example, many Atlantic salmon travel roughly 4,000 kilome-
19
ters (2500 miles). During the egg-laying period in autumn, the chum
salmon swims more than 3,200 kilometers (2000 miles). A red salmon
travels more than 1,600 kilometers (1000 miles).
As soon as they reach the ocean, a structural change takes place in
the salmons' bodies that enables them to survive in salt water. Over
the next one to four years they will travel enormous distances
through the ocean. Leaving the American coasts, they travel along the
Alaskan coast towards Japan, returning by the same route. At the end
of the journeys, the salmon have matured and are ready for the last
and most difficult journey of their lives: the return home, to the fresh-

water beds where they were born.
The salmons' timing is ideal. They plan their long journeys to coin-
cide with the spawning periods. The Atlantic salmon, for example,
swims an average of 6 to 7 kilometers (3 to 4 miles) a day to reach its
destination; the migration it begins in late spring is completed to-
wards the end of autumn.

Adnan Oktar
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