The Way Home
8:20 am
Fri February 8, 2013

Study: Salmon Could Use Earth’s Magnetic Field To Go Home

Credit Tom Quinn, University of Washington
According to new research, sockeye salmon from the Fraser River take different routes home, depending on shifts in the earth's magnetic field.

Salmon travel thousands of miles out to the open ocean to feed and mature. Then after a few years they head home, back to the exact river where they hatched to spawn the next generation.

Scientists don’t fully understand how the fish find their way back, but a new study found that salmon could be determining their routes home by shifts in the earth's magnetic field.

Read the whole story on KUOW’s Earthfix