SCIENTIFIC NAME: Oncorhynchus tshawytscha STATUS:
Endangered/Threatened (different river populations listed
separately) HABITAT: Freshwater streams and rivers at birth;
juveniles mature in estuaries before migrating to open ocean
LIFE HISTORY: Ocean salmon have blue-green backs with silver
sides; color changes to bright red at spawning, and males
develop hooked snout. THREATS: Loss of freshwater spawning
habitat due to dams; pollution; overfishing RANGE: Pacific Ocean
from Kotzebue Sound, Alaska, to Santa Barbara, California
CURRENT POPULATION: Varies by population The largest of Pacific
salmon species, an adult chinook salmon is a monstrous fish,
often five feet long and weighing 100 pounds or more. After
years at sea, this powerful fish makes an epic journey to spawn
in the stream where it was born—and then dies. Once abundant
from Alaska all the way down to Santa Barbara, populations of
chinook salmon have been declining steadily. Human modification
of natural water flow for dams that produce hydropower or