They are sometimes called king, spring, blackmouth or tyee salmon and a fishing village on the west coast of Alaska, King Salmon, is named after this popular fish. Chinooks migrate up freshwater streams from the saltwater of the ocean in autumn. During migration the salmon can travel thousands of miles to return to the location where it hatched by following an odor in the water. Females dig a hole with their tale and lay as many as 15,000 eggs. Male salmon fertilize the eggs with milt.
Male chinooks have kypes, or pronounced hook-shaped lower jaws.
After spawning the fish die and are washed down the river. Salmon eggs are protected by gravel and hatch about four months later. After a period of time, the small salmon head downstream to the ocean. Salmon are strong fish and fight hard when hooked. Dams and pollution are the biggest threat to the survival of salmon populations.