Chinook and Coho Smolts Identification

Chinook (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) smolt or juvenile has black gum, and the tip of jaw is pointy and black. The spaces between parr marks are narrower than the width of the marks. Chinook has larger otoliths than other species.

Coho (Oncorhynchus kisutch) smolt of juvenile has white gum, and the tip of jaw is round and white. The spaces between parr marks are wider than the width of the marks.

Both have strongly forked tail than Steelhead or Atlantic salmon.

pictures - courtesy of northcoastweb.com

Thier Own Funeral

I just found this article about dolphins' funeral captured in the East Sea, Korea in June 27, 2008. The dolphins are a group of common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) and one of their friends was about to die.

The article says only few dolphin funeral has been reported and one of them is a wild baby dolphin is pushed up surface by its mother for 5 days. What they do is trying to help the sick one breathing better, the scientist says.

The researchers took 2 hours of footage of this event and found later the dead female dolphin didn't have any wounds regarding it was a natural death. Dolphins live about 30 years.

The original Korean article including part of the footage can be found on http://www.donga.com/fbin/output?n=200809100417&top20=1