In the right conditions, adult Atlantic salmon can leap up to 12 feet over obstacles. That's more than two six-foot tall people standing one on top of the other. For their annual spring migration, adult Atlantic salmon must swim upstream over dams and falls. Being able to leap helps them to beat this watery obstacle course. Tuesday There's a bog difference between Pacific and Atlantic salmon.
Pacific salmon die after migrating back to the river to spawn.
Atlantic salmon, on the other hand, do not always die and can return to the ocean. This is a pretty amazing feat if you consider that adult Atlantic salmon have to travel thousands of miles from their feeding grounds in the North Atlantic up the Connecticut River watershed to spawn. Adult salmon spend the summer hanging out in colder areas of the river, moving to gravelly tributaries to spawn in early fall. Wednesday It might not sound like an ideal spot for a nursery to us, but Atlantic salmon need to find gravelly tributaries to spawn. They become silvery in color, and migrate to the ocean.