10 Fascinating Facts About Flying Fish

Flying fish are incredible ocean fish that astonish seafarers with their power and flying ability. Flying fish gather so much speed that they can launch themselves from the ocean and glide over huge distances. From their astonishing speed to how young flying fish (fry) hide in the ocean to avoid predators, here are 10 incredible flying fish facts that will surprise you.

1. They Don’t Actually Fly

It’s a disappointment, but like the flying fox, flying fish can’t actually fly like birds do. Instead, flying fish have evolved large wing-shaped fins that enable gliding over distances, and their maximum recorded distance is 1,300 feet. Sometimes, they can even glide for up to 45 seconds.

2. They Fly To Avoid Predators

It’s possible that flying fish evolved their gliding capabilities so they could escape predators. Predators of flying fish include mackerel, tuna, swordfish, and marlin, all of which are large, fast fish. To escape them, flying fish gather speed and leap from the ocean, gliding into the air so they can’t be grabbed from behind. Unfortunately, once in the air, they are also prey to birds.

3. Flying Fish Are Incredibly Fast

Flying fish are fast and can reach speeds of up to 35mph, utilizing their torpedo shape and vertically forked tail to fire themselves out of the water. An article in the Journal of Experimental Biology suggests that flying fish have attracted lots of interest from biology and aerodynamics specialists due to their incredible physiology. Although flying fish are relatively small, measuring only two to twenty inches long, they are extremely powerful swimmers, and their strong fins give them the power to propel themselves through the water and up into the air.

4. How To Catch A Flying Fish

Given their ability to launch out of the water, you’d think it would be hard to catch flying fish, but it’s actually easy. Flying fish are attracted to light, as many ocean animals are. For thousands of years, fishermen have used light as a lure. In some cases, a well-lit boat is enough to catch flying fish as they are attracted by the light and jump in.

5. Flying Fish Are Good Luck Symbols

In some cultures, the flying fish is a symbol of good luck, and in dreams, they signify discovering new paths. Success, favorable circumstances, and blessings are all associated with this fish.

6. They Have Mass Breeding Orgies

Flying fish spawn in the open ocean. Females attach eggs to floating debris such as leaves, and males release sperm onto the eggs. When enough eggs are attached, the debris sinks to the ocean floor. Mating takes place in the warmer months, and fishermen have witnessed mass breeding events of flying fish jumping, flying, and swimming together. As they move, their eggs and sperm are dispersed. One such event in the Gulf of Mexico involved thousands of flying fish in a mating orgy that lasted for two hours.

7. Incredible Baby Flying Fish Don a Disguise

Most flying fish eggs are eaten by predators, but those that do survive adopt a cunning disguise to hide from other fish interested in eating them. Newly hatched flying fish are called fry, and they have whiskers or barbs around their mouths that disguise them as plants. Going incognito is an ingenious way to stay safe in the dangerous ocean. Once they are fully developed, they drop the beard and rely on their gliding ability to escape predators.

8. Barbados Was Called the Land of the Flying Fish

The Caribbean Sea is home to abundant numbers of flying fish. There are so many that they are a key ingredient in Barbados’ national dish, cou-cou and flying fish. Although flying fish are not endangered, the corals of Bridgetown are so damaged by pollution and large-scale fishing vessels that they are not common there any longer. Still, flying fish can be seen on the Barbadian passport, coins, coats of arms, and statues. Barbados is still known as ‘The Land of the Flying Fish’.

9. Flying Fish Are Impossible to Keep In an Aquarium

If you want to see flying fish for yourself, it’ll mean a trip to the ocean. They’re almost impossible to keep in an aquarium for obvious reasons. In the past, a few water parks have attempted it, but because flying fish need space to gather speed, they failed to fly and amuse the paying guests.

10. Flying Fish Have Been Around for Millions of Years

Finally, did you know that flying fish have been around for a really long time? That’s right, they’ve actually been around for millions of years. Fossil records show that ancestors of modern flying fish have been around for approximately 66 million years. However, evidence also suggests that there were unrelated species living in the Triassic period around 200 million years ago.