Anchovies Are Killing California Chinook

Photo: NPS Climate Change Response/Flickr

In a surprising study, experts have found that a high diet of anchovies is likely leading to increased mortality in chinook salmon throughout California, per the LA Times. Anchovies contain an enzyme that breaks down thiamine – a critical vitamin salmon need to survive. When these chinook return to California rivers to spawn with low thiamine levels, those problems are then passed on to their young.

You can read more about this problem – and potential solutions – here.