How Nutrient From The Sea Ended Up In The Forest?

Chum salmon swimming their way back to their breeding place. Photo by: Thomas Kline, Salmonography.

It’s hard to believe that trees deep in the forest get their nutrients far-far away from the sea. That what the wonder on nature when they work together accordingly. One of examples that we can see is the returning of salmon during the breeding season.

Salmon is one of few species of animals that start their life in the freshwater and spend their growing time in the sea then return back only to lay their eggs. As they return their journey back to the deep forest that might take few thousand kilometres as example of chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) that travel the longest journey far up to Yukon River and deep into the Amur River basin where the journey will take more than 3,200 km (2,000 mi).

Alaskan brown bear with chum salmon. Photo by: Alan Vernon

Salmon alevin. Photo by: OpenCage

Within their journey they will become meals for numbers of other animal species such as eagle, otter, water birds, and bear that waiting for their returning from the sea. Then for the surviving salmon will continue their journey to their breeding place far into the forest. Their journey up the river requires them to have strong muscles, with it they are capable to leaps more than 2 meters height.

Travelling far from the sea will make salmon lost lots of energy all of them will die after spawning their eggs. Their carcases might be taken by other animals out of the water and left the remaining alone. Then the remaining will become home to blow fly’s larvae that will eat on the remaining flesh.

Once they are ready, the maggots will buried themselves in the soil until they emerge as adult flies. These flies again will do another important thing for plants and trees in the surrounding areas; pollinating the flowers to make sure they can produce seeds for their next generation.

Dying salmon after the breeding season. Photo by: Ned Rozell

Death salmon releasing nutrients from the sea. Photo by: fishbio.com

We might think that salmon just one species of animal and maybe important to those few animals that eat them. With closer observation we can see how all the ecosystem intertwine together with every single piece of them nourishing one another.

Even though each female salmon can carry from 2,500 to 7,500 eggs depending on size and species, only some of them will hatched. From that numbers less than 2 percent will return to the same location to spawn again in the next 6 to 7 years.

More Interesting Things About Flying Fish

Flying fish leaping out of the water in group - Photo by: caribbeannewsservice.com

Flying fish is the only fish that can fly or actually gliding in the air in order to avoid their predators. Compared to its body size the distance they can achieve from the glide is considered very far. Even though this behaviour help them to run away from the predators, but their predators too have different techniques to catch this super leapers.

Flying fish are family of fish known as Exocoetidae, in the order of Beloniformes class Actinopterygii, with 64 species from 9 genera. They can be found in all of the oceans, mostly in tropical and warm subtropical waters. That’s the other reasons why flying fish is quite popular as part of people’s culture all over the world, from Japan, Vietnam, China, Indonesia, India, South America such as Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago. Besides of that, flying fish still can be found in many other areas (even when they are not become part of people consumptions for that areas).

Flying fish has a bigger fins than usual fish. - Photo by: hootersbutwithcats

Flying fish from the side. - Photo by: Thinkstock

Flying fish can achieve great distance when they gliding above the sea. The distance can get farther with the right condition of wave and wind. They can reach up to 4 feet heights and gliding distances up to 655 feet. Sometimes they will continue the jump soon after touching the water to reach longer distances up to 1,312 feet. They also can soar high enough and sometimes get stranded on the decks of ships.

Flying fish become important food source for other bigger species of fish in the sea and when they leap out the water, birds too will take advantage to make them as their food. With their size can reach up to 18 in (45 cm), flying fish is consider moderate in size. Flying fish had been using in many dishes all around the world. One of the popular dishes is the flying fish sashimi from Japan.

Fried flying fish. - Photo by: Josh Berglund

Sashimi - Tobiuo (Flying Fish) - Photo by: travel.gaijinpot.com 

Fisherman caught them with different ways such as using gillnetting in Japan, Vietnam and China, while using dipnetting in Indonesia and India. There’s also a technique using lights to catch this fish as they are attracted to the lights (especially during the dark moon).

Catch in the mid air by bird. - Photo by: aquarium.ucsd.edu

Chase under the water. - Photo by: YouTube

Even though flying fish is not considered as threaten species, their hunting should be controlled in order to avoid overfishing. Flying fish is important to human especially in some cultures, but they are more important to the nature itself.