Flying Fish

Flying fish are a family of marine fish found in warm and temperate waters of oceans worldwide, best known for their remarkable ability to leap from the water and glide for considerable distances through the air using enlarged, wing-like pectoral fins. To become airborne, a flying fish builds up speed underwater with rapid tail beats before breaking the surface and spreading its fins, gliding just above the waves, sometimes skimming the surface with its tail for extra propulsion to extend the flight, which can cover distances of well over one hundred metres in a single glide. This unusual behavior is primarily an escape strategy to evade fast underwater predators such as tuna, mackerel and dolphinfish, which cannot follow the fish once it takes to the air, though airborne flying fish remain vulnerable to seabirds. Flying fish feed mainly on plankton, and in several regions they are also an important food source for humans and are harvested commercially.