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Salmon is an iconic fish known for their incredible migration journeys from freshwater to the vast ocean and back again. Some people visualize salmon as a delicious meal, sturdy fish swimming upstream, or maybe a haggard zombie fish. To identify these terms, first, we have to discover salmonβs life cycle.
Salmon start their lives in freshwater. The adult female salmon lays eggs in gravel nests in rivers or streams, and these eggs hatch into alevins. Alevins remain in freshwater for a period, absorbing nutrients from their yolk sacs. When they have consumed all of the yolk sacs and grown in size, they are now young salmon, known as parr, during this stage, they develop the typical appearance of salmon with vertical stripes on their bodies, providing camouflage in the river environment. As the salmon mature, they undergo a process called smoltification. This physiological transformation prepares them for the transition to a saltwater environment. Smolts develop a silvery color, adapt to higher salinity, and undergo other changes that make them suitable for life in the ocean.
Once smoltification is complete, the salmon can finally migrate downstream to the ocean.
When it reaches the ocean, it enters a phase of intense feeding and rapid growth. They take advantage of the rich marine environment, consuming a variety of prey, including smaller fish, crustaceans, and plankton. This period of abundant food resources allows them to build up energy reserves and increase in size. After spending one to several years in the ocean, depending on the salmon species, the fish will reach its sexual maturity. At this point, they undergo hormonal changes that trigger the migration back to their natal rivers for spawning.
Salmon exhibit an extraordinary ability to navigate across vast distances of open ocean to reach the specific rivers or streams where they were born. Scientists believe that they use Earthβs magnetic field like a compass to navigate.
Once in freshwater, salmon face the challenge of swimming upstream against the current to reach their spawning grounds. This journey often involves overcoming natural obstacles such as waterfalls, which they have to use their tails to propel themselves up a waterfall.
Once the spawning site called redds is chosen, females release their eggs into the redds, and males release sperm to fertilize the eggs.
After spawning, the energy-depleted adult salmon undergo a process called senescence, characterized by rapid deterioration of their bodies. This includes changes in skin color, lesions, sores, and loss of scales and fins. These changes made people think of the name βZombie Fishβ. After adult salmons die, their posterity will carry on this non-stopping cycle.
The life of a salmon is like a racehorse, running with only one goal in mind: the preservation of the species. Of course, only 30% of the many salmon are successful, but living life like that, having one goal and devoting my all to it seems way more valuable than a life without a goal. Just like a salmon returning from fresh water to the vast sea, and back to its home, why donβt we find our goal for life and swim for it with all our might until we fulfil our dreams? Like my grandma once told me βThe pursuit of our goals is what truly defines our existenceβ.
is it good enough
Yes
either you are NOT year 7, or thats chat gpt π
Blud did NOT write allat nor am I reading it
im pretty sure you need to add some indents
like this
oh i cant use tab to make a space here
i am year 7
i would have done it if it was proper writing
this is just a script to read during my presentation
ohh
ngl i didnt read allat but looks good
if youre just gonna read
i love salmon
yummy
yeah me too