Salmon Fun

CHINOOK SALMON

By Matias Totz

Basic Info

Chinook Salmon are the largest of Pacific salmon and can grow up to be around 24-36 inches and around 10-50 pounds. At the aquarium, the Chinook salmon only get to be around 15 cm before we release them. Chinook salmon have black spots on their tail and the upper half of its body which helps us tell it from other types of salmon. These salmon spend one to eight years in the ocean before returning to their home river to spawn. Chinook salmon have massive changes before the spawning period. Both males and females will lose their silvery blue colour and their colour darkens. The males will develop sharp frontal teeth and their jaws curve or hook.  The female will stay and guard her eggs for 25 days before she will die and the males will go off to seek another female. Chinook salmon eat zooplankton, larval, and adult invertebrates while in the river, but in the ocean, salmon will eat smaller fish such as herring and krill. Many animals love to eat salmon such as other fish, members of their own species, snakes, birds, whales, dolphins, seals, sea lions, bears and of course humans! I like Chinook salmon better than any other type of salmon because of how scary they get to be. Imagine swimming in a pool with these guys!⇢
Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salmon