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Salmon fry are only about 1 inch long when they emerge from the gravel. Chinook and coho fry are dark in color and have large spots. This helps them blend in with the streambed and hide from predators. Pink, chum, and sockeye fry immediately migrate downstream to the ocean or a lake. They have few or no spots and are silver in color. Salmon smolts are young fish ready to migrate to the ocean. Changes in body color and physiology prepare them for life in salt water.

Each species of salmon fry has its own unique habitat requirements. Coho fry are found in small streams that flow year-round. They like shaded pools with over-hanging trees and shrubs. Chinook fry live near gravel bars and in side channels of large streams. They also need stable stream flows and well-vegetated streambanks. Pink and chum fry migrate downstream after only a few days in freshwater. They form large schools that move along the sheltered beaches of bays and inlets. Sockeye fry live in large lakes for one or two years before migrating to sea.

The abundant supply of Pacific Salmon is what makes the waters of Alaska so unique and special. There are various types of Salmon that occupy the waters of Alaska. Some of these types are pink, Chinook (king), Coho (silver), sockeye, and chum salmon. Each of these salmon occupies different and unique habitats. As a result different types swim in different locations and depths depending on the time of year and the phase that they are in as a part of their life cycle.

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