Salmon have a very interesting life cycle. It goes like this. The eggs are laid by their mother in fall and fertilized by their father and hatch the next spring. The young Alevin hatch and have a yolk sac attached to them, which they feed off of giving them protein, sugar, minerals and vitamins. After their yolk sac is absorbed they leave the gravel and become fry. Fry begin to move in schools in the river eating zooplankton until big enough to eat aquatic insects. Fry will keep growing and develop vertical marks on their sides called parr marks. Parr start migrating toward the sea. Salmon then grow and feed in the ocean for eight years. Salmon then start moving towards spawning grounds. They spawn the eggs, and die. Then the cycle starts all over again with the new eggs.