[alt text: A screenshot of a tweet by Matthew Broussard/@mondaypunday on twitter. The tweet says: “Human: we have a color named after you! Salmon: really? is it silvery blue like my outsides? Human: no, uh- Salmon: wait why is it pink? Human: . . . (dot dot dot). Salmon: WHY IS IT PINK!?”. Below the tweet is a cropped illustration of a salmon, where the salmon’s mouth is a gape, seemingly in horror.]
Well actually
This is what happens to salmon when they get hormonal
For any curious
Why?
The goals of the Salmon change when they reach mating age. Now they don’t need to survive in the ocean, they need to make sperm/eggs and survive the long trip to their birthplace. This trip is through fresh water lakes and rivers. That is a very different environment from the ocean. They will need to jump/swim up waterfalls. They will need to avoid predators, but very different ones than they faced in the ocean.At the end of their journey they will mate and die.
Because the goals and environmental pressures change so much the Salmon must also change to meet those new challenges. If they didn’t they wouldn’t be as successful in reaching their final destination and making more Salmon.
How?
Just like humans, hormones trigger biological changes. The change to fresh water also triggers changes and a countdown clock. The changes use a lot of energy, as does their trip and mating. Their body will literally consume itself to make the changes and meet the challenges it needs to so that the salmon make it home to mate.
(From a former comment of mine)
Plot Twist: Salmon have a color named after humans. It’s a fleshy reddish pink.
Melon has entered the chat
Love the fact that Reddit slowly leaks here also. Especially its memes. We should definitely increase user base to over 1 million.
Reddit used to be mostly jokes leaking from 4chan so give it time.
Think of it as curated quality content
qualityslop
