Mar 30 2008
Flying fish – pictures
A couple of a days ago I received a couple of photos from the Southern Atlantic Ocean. The Norwegian research vessel “G.O.Sars” had finished its survey in the Antarctic Ocean and was heading north. Members of the crew was standing on the bow when they saw some strange fish jumping out of the water.
The flying fish use their unusual flying talent to escape predators – and in this case; a research vessels.
As you see from the pictures, the flying fish has unusual large pectoral fins which enable the fish to take short gliding flights through air. The glides are usually up to 30-50 meters in length. I guess this is not the easiest thing to capture in the camera lens as most species reach a maximum length of only 30 cm.
I must admit that I do not know much about flying fish. There are about 50 species of flying fish, and I can not tell which one you see on this post.
Photos: Leif Nøttestad and Øyvind Tangen.
That closeup is one of the coolest pictures I’ve ever seen.
I’ve always wanted to see a flying fish like that, in the wild.
Truly amazing, thanks for sharing!