• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Zippy Facts Logo

Zippy Facts

Interesting Random Facts

  • Animals
  • Culture
  • Firsts
  • Food
  • Geography
  • Health
  • History
  • Inventions
  • Language
  • Mythology
  • Odds
  • People
  • Religion
  • Science
  • Space
  • Universe
  • World
You are here: Home / Animals / Where do Salmon Come from, Where do they Live, and Why do they Swim Upstream to Spawn?

Where do Salmon Come from, Where do they Live, and Why do they Swim Upstream to Spawn?

February 19, 2020 by Karen Hill

Salmon return to the same exact spot where they were born when spawning and die shortly after.

We still don’t know how these fish are able to remember the site of their birth.

sockeye salmon

Salmon live in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, as well as the Great Lakes of North America.

Most of us have heard that salmon swim upstream to make their trek to lay their eggs, and are anadromous, which means they are born in fresh water, migrate to the ocean, and return to spawn.

Spawning before dying is a pretty good motivator, and salmon are pretty strong fish. The fact that they can leap up to twelve feet out of the water helps them overcome most obstacles.

However, dams without fish ladders damn them to frustration and then extinction. Even without dams, life’s hard for the poor salmon.

When fingerlings, fish younger than a year old, are released from hatcheries, only about 1 to 5 percent make it back home to spawn.

The word Salmon is from the Middle English salmoun, or samoun, which is thought to mean “to leap” in original form.

Salmon are central to Native American mythology on the Pacific Northwest coast.

Related Facts

  • How do salmon return to rivers where they spawned after years of migration over vast distances?
  • Why is Salmon Pink and Where does the Pink Color in Salmon meat come from?
  • Why were salmon so important to northwestern Native Americans and How were Salmon preserved?
  • What was the European Age of Exploration?
  • Which Explorers First Explored the Continents of the World?
  • What is the Difference Between Trout and Salmon, How are they Related, and How do you Tell them Apart?

Filed Under: Animals

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « How Deep in the Ocean do Deep Sea Fish Live and What is the Deepest Depth a Fish Can Live?
Next Post: Where does Salmonella Bacteria Come From, How did it get its Name, and How Can Infection be Prevented? »

Footer

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • GitHub
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Medium
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Categories

Accomplishments Animals Culture Firsts Food Geography Health History Inventions Language Mythology Odds People Religion Science Space Universe World Your Body

About

Zippy Facts empowers the world by serving educational content that is accessible to everyone.

A tribute to growing up, zippyfacts.com showcases interesting and unusual facts about the world.

Our mission is to use technology to facilitate knowledge transfer and sharing.

Copyright © 2020 Zippy Facts

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy