Could the “salmon cannon” really save ecosystems?

Humans everywhere were captivated over the weekend by a viral video of salmon being transported from one estuary to another through a giant overland pneumatic tube — a.k.a. the “fish tube.” The jaunty video, which shows fish shooting through the sky like checks in a bank drive-thru, chronicles the work of a bioengineering company called — wait for it — Whooshh Innovations. 

If you haven’t watched the clip, check it out —it’ll certainly have you scratching your head. But although it may look strange and unnatural to see fish being transported via a giant tube, the “salmon cannon” as it’s been dubbed is actually solving a problem that environmentalists have been battling for years.

For centuries, hydroelectric dams have been altering the environment and the flow of rivers that salmon depend on. Many inventions have been made to help salmon continue with their…
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