A new UBC study shows young sockeye salmon swim in packs to protect themselves from predators in their journey to the open ocean, reports the Vancouver Sun.
The researchers followed 2,000 tagged salmon smolts for four years in their 1,000-kilometre swim from the Cariboo region to the Pacific Ocean. According to Nathan Furey, a PhD candidate in the faculty of forestry, the young fish had better chances of surviving their trip down the Chilko River if they were in large packs, due to “predator swamping.”
A similar article appeared in The Province.
