Smolt
As the baby Chinook salmon moves downstream, it imprints the smells of the stream where it hatched as well as different water bodies on its journey to the ocean. This homing skill will guide the fall Chinook salmon back home after it spends two to five years growing in the ocean. As the fingerling gets closer to the ocean’s salt water, it makes significant physiological changes to become a smolt.
What does the lifestyle of a Chinook salmon look like?
The Columbia River is legendary for producing salmon. Salmon are called “anadromous fish,” because they migrate from fresh water to the ocean where they mature and then return to fresh water to spawn the next generation.
