Cool water is important to my health, and the health of other salmon and trout. We're all lumped into a category of fish biologists call salmonids. We're cold-blooded animals or ectothermic, which means our body temperature depends on our surroundings... and we like it pretty cold. If the water temperature gets too warm, it can harm us.

Our lives are also closely tied to water temperatures. The right temperature is kind of like an alarm clock for us, signaling us when it's time to do something important. For example, many of us start spawning in the fall when water temperatures drop to just the right temperatures. And, rising springtime water temperatures may serve as a wake up call for us to migrate.