Salmon find their home waters by sense of smell which is even more keen than a dog or bear. They also rely on ocean currents, tides and the gravitational pull of the moon to navigate their way through the ocean back to the stream or river where they were born.

Salmon and steelhead migrate out in the open Pacific Ocean. Some stay close to home while others may go as far away as Asia before turning around and coming back to the river where they were born.

Salmon and steelhead are among only a few creatures on earth that are "anadromous" meaning the live part of their life in freshwater and part of their life in saltwater. Some anadromous species include sturgeon, herring, shad, menhaden, eels and some trout. Because fish get oxygen out of the water they swim through, this means that their entire bodies have to make a drastic metabolic change not once but twice when going from fresh to saltwater then saltwater to freshwater.  

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All salmon die after they spawn, but some steelhead can spawn more than once. After spawning some steelhead return to the ocean and come back again to repeat the process.  

Not long ago salmon and steelhead used to live in rivers up and down the west coast, going as far south as the Baja Peninsula. Today their range does not extend nearly as far south as it once did.