Watching Atlantic salmon leaping is one of the great spectacles of the natural world, and Scotland is a great place to witness it.
This species is synonymous with wild rivers, open oceans and wilderness. Indeed, their epic migration makes the Atlantic salmon one of Scotland’s most famous wildlife species – reflected in their scientific name meaning ‘the salmon from the sea’ or ‘the salmon that leaps’! Sadly, however, they have lost much of their habitat in the UK. Read on to learn more about these fantastic fish, including where to observe them and the work being done for their conservation. For an overview check out Wildlife in Scotland: A Beginner’s Guide.
scientific name meaning
‘the salmon from the sea’ or
‘the salmon that leaps’
Where to see Atlantic salmon leaping in Scotland
There are several places in the Highlands of Scotland where you can see Atlantic salmon jumping. These include the Pitlochry dam and fish ladder, Falls of Feugh, River Truim, Rogie Falls and the Falls of Shin. Some of these spots are very easy to view from (eg: Pitlochry), whilst others lack visitor facilities of any kind (eg: River Truim). Therefore, visitors should choose their destination carefully. The map below shows locations in the Scottish Highlands where salmon are regularly observed jumping waterfalls.
Atlantic salmon can spend days or even weeks in a river pool, trying to leap up a waterfall.
Lifecycle of Atlantic salmon
The Atlantic salmon seen leaping up waterfalls in Scotland are adults in the final days of their life. After swimming hundreds of miles at sea, and stimulated by rainfall, they ‘taste’ their way back to the river in which they were born. Here they seek out shallow gravel beds in which they will lay their eggs. The male fertilises the females eggs in a gravel nest called a ‘redd’, which offers protection from storms, floods and predators. Upon hatching, the baby fish (‘alevin‘) shelter in the gravel, nourished by their yolk sack. The young fish (‘fry‘) eventually leave the gravel and feed on invertebrates for the following few months. When the fry’s organs transform for life in saltwater, they are known as ‘smolt‘ and migrate seaward. Adult fish spend 1-5 years in the ocean before migrating upstream to spawn, after which they die.
♻️ Dead or ‘spent’ salmon return valuable nutrients to the ecosystem, including to predators such as sea eagles and otters.
Species factfile ❀
Common name: Atlantic salmon Scientific name: Salmo salar Order: Salmoniformes, Family: Salmonidae Measurements: Up to 150cm Habitat: Open sea. Coastal waters and rivers during migration and spawning. Range: North Atlantic, North Sea, Baltic Conservation status: Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981: Schedule 5 species, IUCN Red List: Endangered
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River rewilding and salmon conservation
Within living memory, leaping salmon were a regular sight in rivers throughout Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland. However, many of these rivers are now inhospitable to salmon due to ‘canalisation’, dredging, pollution or blockages. In addition, fish populations have been starved of food, shelter and even oxygen by the removal of riverside trees. As a result, Britain’s wild salmon population is unfortunately only a fraction of what it once was. However, recent rewilding projects (for example, by Cairngorms Connect) quickly improve salmon habitat by:
- ‘re-wiggling‘ rivers to protect gravel beds,
- planting native ‘riparian’ trees such as aspen, alder and willow to increase nutrients and provide shade, and
- placing deadwood and boulders in the river to improve feeding and protection for young fish.
The leaping behaviour of adult salmon enables them to cross beaver dams easily. In addition, beaver dams actually create essential shelter for young salmon.
In the UK, the vast majority of salmon sold for human consumption is from fish farms in Britain.
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