Do flying fish actually fly? Kuya Kim answers

A woman from Cebu City lost her phone after a fish “flew” across the boat she was on and "snatched" the cellphone she was holding.

What are the chances that the culprit was a flying fish? And do flying fish actually fly?

According to Kuya Kim’s report on “24 Oras,” Thursday, although flying fish are named so, they cannot really fly.

Instead, they jump and glide over long distances with their wing-like pectoral fins.

A flying fish can glide for up to 45 seconds, which is four times longer than the first flight made by the Wright brothers, the inventors of the first airplane.

The movement that a flying fish makes is their defense mechanism to escape from predators like tuna and swordfish.

They also swim very fast. With the help of their forked tail fin, they can swim up to 56 kilometers per hour.

But according to an expert, the fish that flew across the boat and caused the lady to lose her grip of her phone is not a flying fish.

“Although pareho silang isda na kulay silver, magkaiba ang halfbeak sa mga flying fish dahil ang flying fish mahaba ang palikpik. Ang black-barred halfbeak naman maikli lang ang kanyang palikpik pero meron siyang tusok sa kanilang baba at ang tawag sa kanila ay salasa,” said Gregg Yan, Executive Director, Best Alternatives Campaign.

“Posibleng nabulabog yung halfbeak nung biglang may lumapit na bangka,” he continued.

He also advised, “Pag tayo’y nasa dagat baka po mas maganda na yung cellphone natin merong tali.” — Carby Basina/BAP, GMA Integrated News