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Flying fish in Galapagos often surprise and excite our guests by leaping out of the deep blue waters and fluttering and splashing around in the ocean like careless stones. They usually surface to splash up around the Santa Cruz II Galapagos cruise ship’s sides. Occasionally, during the night, visitors may even be fortunate enough to see a school of white-tip reef sharks that frequent the ship’s sides in search of flying fish to eat!
Flying Fish in Galapagos: An Amazing Ability
The name itself might be a little deceptive because these fish don’t always fly in the traditional sense of the word. Rather, the Galapagos flying fish exhibit what can be best described as “gliding” over the waters. Massive pectoral fins are what one may mistake for wings. Flying fish in Galapagos may reach up to 30 mph/48 kph with the aid of their tail, which functions as a propeller and can beat up to an impressive 50 times per second! Afterward, they will shoot out of the water and extend their fins. Because of their unique abilities, they can traverse hundreds of yards or meters, which helps them escape the ferocious and swift predators that pursue them underwater.
When avoiding predators below and above, aquatic birds in the Galapagos won’t think twice before swooping down and snatching these flying fish. This makes for an incredibly frantic situation. Frequently, they will inadvertently fly straight into the mouths of large birds like red-billed tropicbirds, frigatebirds, and red-footed boobies—all of which are included in our BIG15 group of iconic species in Galapagos.
Galapagos Flying Fish: An Outstanding Adaptation
On an evolutionary timescale, one can only speculate about how these fish came to be. It may have begun with a big school of fish, some bigger than the others in the fin department. When predators pursued them, only those with bigger fins could escape. Larger-finned fish could survive and procreate with each other, while smaller fish were consumed. These identical fish started jumping higher into the air to elude larger-finned predators pursuing them, ultimately increasing their chances of escaping.
One fantastic trait that results from this evolutionary process is the presence of fully widened neural arches, which serve as insertion points for muscles, tissues, and ligaments found throughout a fish’s skeleton. Ultimately, Galapagos flying fish can maintain their body rigidity in the air thanks to the more giant neural arches surrounding them. This helps the fish achieve aerodynamic qualities as they emerge from the sea.
