Fish that plucks birds from the sky
THE idea of a fish leaping out the water to catch a bird sounds like a fisherman’s tale. While it seems to defy the natural order, that extraordinary scene has been caught on camera for the first time.
Crews filming the BBC’s new natural history series Blue Planet II were told that giant trevally fish had been seen hunting seabirds off the coast of the Seychelles.
What they found and filmed might prove to be the stand-out moment of the series, which begins on Sunday night.
The dramatic hunting sequence, some of which is in slow motion, will captivate viewers and is likely to draw comparisons to the award-winning snakes versus iguanas scene from Planet Earth II last year.
The monster, which can swim at almost 60kph, tracked the flightpath of the tern before intercepting it... in one gulp.
Speaking at a preview screening last month, series producer James Honeyborne said: ‘It’s one thing seeing a fish flying through the air, that’s unexpected enough. But then seeing a fish flying through the air and catching a bird in its mouth, wow... yep – a bird-eating fish.
‘The fish launches out of the water with phenomenal speed and acceleration and catches this bird in mid-air. And we filmed it in ultra slow-motion.’
Giant trevallies prey on thousands of terns that take off from shorelines in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The fish can weigh more than 76kg but can launch itself 1.8metres in the air pursuing food.