She stirs up the gravel with her tail and bends her body into a U-shape to carve out a depression. She then settles down and deposits her thousands of eggs, or roe . The male quickly moves in and releases his sperm, or milt , over the roe. Then the female uses her tail to rake the loose gravel over and cover the redd. A pair of salmon usually make four or five nests, although they can make as many as seven.
Pacific salmon die soon after they finish spawning.
Their carcasses become food for eagles, bears, and other animals. Their decaying bodies also feed nutrients back into the forests and streams that will nurture the next generation. The eggs range in color from translucent gold-orange to darker red. Incubation time for the eggs is usually between five and ten weeks. When the fish hatch they are called alevin.