Page 68 - Engineering in Nature

Engineering in Nature

Despite all the difficulties, salmon complete their journeys, return-
ing to where they were born to lay their eggs. Generations of salmon
have undertaken this magnificent journey for millions of years.
The measure of the salmon's achievement can be better grasped by

a few comparisons. Imagine that someone had to travel thousands of
kilometers to the house where he was born, with no help and not
using any sort of vehicle. It's is impossible that he would be able to do
so within a specific time frame, over roads and obstacles he had never
encountered before. Yet salmon possess the means to do this, from the
moment they are born. Clearly, however, this ability cannot come
about through the salmons' own efforts. Chance can never endow this
species of fish with greater abilities than those of human beings.
These creatures can complete their journey of thousands of kilo-
meters thanks to the special designs created in their bodies by God.
Every thoughtful reader can immediately see the miraculous aspect
of the salmon's achievement and realize that this is performed with
the guidance—in other words, the inspiration— of a superior power.
In one verse, God reveals that there are lessons for mankind in the
living things He has created:

There is instruction for you in cattle...(Surat an-Nahl: 66)

• The Salmon's Scent-Detection Mechanism
The journeys that salmon undertake are one of the most astonish-
ing phenomena in nature. How do thousands of salmon recognize the
riverbed where they were hatched, after spending years at sea? They
first need to find their birthplace from among the thousands of rivers
that pour into the Pacific Ocean, then swim the length of it, then tak-
ing the correct fork whenever the river branches.

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