ONE THING that has niggled at me for
a long time is the fact that so many marine biologists say that flying fish
don’t fly. These supposed experts maintain that flying fish simply extend their
fins and glide. And I have always maintained that they do fly. I have seen them
from the close and low vantage point of a small yacht as they burst out of a
swell, glide for a certain distance, then waggle their tails in the water as they
descend, gather speed again, and then flap their “wings” strongly before
starting another glide.
I am glad to say I have now found a
supporting voice. And a famous one, at that. Last night I was re-reading Conor
O’Brien’s book, Across Three Oceans,
and he agrees with me. O’Brien was an Irish master mariner who sailed his
42-foot ketch Saoirse around the
world in 1923. This is what he had to say about flying fish:
“I am prepared to swear that they
can and do fly, all the statements of the anatomists notwithstanding. At least
I say that by vibrating their wings they can increase their height and their
speed and make abrupt turns in circumstances which preclude the hypothesis of
an ascending puff of wind under them. But they cannot rise from the deck, and
they are very good eating.”
Thank you, Captain O’Brien. I needed
that. I’ll sleep more soundly now.
Today’s
Thought
An
expert is somebody who is more than 50 miles from home, has no responsibility
for implementing the advice he gives, and shows slides.
— Edwin Meese III, White House
counsel
Tailpiece
“O’Flaherty, what are you doing here? Your brother called and said you
were sick and wouldn’t be coming to work today.”
“Ah begorrah, the joke’s on him.
He’s not supposed to phone until tomorrow.”
(Drop by every Monday, Wednesday,
Friday for a new Mainly about Boats column.)
When I was 10 years old, I saw flying fish from a charter fishing boat off Palm Beach, FL. I couldn't see how they couldn't be flying. Subsequently, I've made a 30 year career of being a fish biologist and now a marine biologist. I still believe what I saw 48 years ago. Oh, and, I took a Geography of Oregon class in college (lived in Oregon all my life), and the professor was from the east coast, and had traveled around Oregon for about a year before teaching the class, and it was a series of slide shows, right after lunch. I stopped going to class, because I'd fall asleep. Aced the final.
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