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Flying fish: Salmon get help migrating with cannon

Salmon are getting the ride of their lives to help them migrate.

The new invention is called the salmon cannon, or more formally, the Whoosh Fish Transport System.

It's being used along the Washougal River on the Washington-Oregon border.

The cannon moves the fish from a holding pen through a pressurized tub and into a truck in a matter of seconds.

"We started with goldfish, trout and tilapia. Worked our way up to salmon,” said Todd Deligan, Vice President of Whoosh Innovations.

The salmon cannon will make it easier for the fish to move upriver, especially since droughts have impacted salmon runs and man-made dams have affected spawning grounds.

The salmon cannon was inspired by the same technology used in orchards to get apples off trees and into trucks quickly.

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