Who’s Coming Home?
The Story of Juvenile Chinook Salmon Migratory Phenotypes in California’s Central Valley
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Every year at the foot of the hills in California’s Central Valley …
… young, wild salmon leave their redd nests to travel down the river’s alley.
They make their way to the great delta, migrating to the Golden Gate, where the Pacific Ocean holds the potion of what is to be their fate.
It’s a simple question, but one we don’t know: who’s coming home?
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About the Book
Every year in the foothill streams of California’s Sierra Nevada mountains, young, wild salmon emerge from rock nests, and at different times, begin migration down the river to the Central Valley and ultimately the Pacific Ocean. Their strategies are to leave at different sizes and times during the spring. These small fish, some very small, face many challenges and obstacles as they battle to reach the sea. Their life’s mission: get big and return to their birthplace to mate. But which way out gets them home?
Based on one of the author’s scientific publications, and illustrated by her, this rhyming picture book for children explains the juvenile salmon journey and answers the question of which out-migration strategy works.
Informative and entertaining, Who’s Coming Home? introduces kids to science and how to answer questions about nature using it.
About the Author
Ayesha Gray, PhD, earned a bachelor’s degree in zoology from the University of Texas at Austin and a PhD in aquatic and fishery sciences from the University of Washington and has worked as a professional ecologist for twenty-three years. Her research focus on habitat restoration for juvenile salmon and their early life history led to this book. Dr. Gray is also an artist and founder of the website www.drawyourimagination.com, which is a digital portfolio and houses many of her projects and ideas. She lives in Grand Bay, Alabama, with her husband and twin daughters.