  Barbados is often called "the land of the flying fish," so it's no surprise that Life producers chose this small, pear-shaped island in the Caribbean as the location to film one of the ocean's most awe-inspiring animals. Flying fish are able to soar above the waves like gliders, taking flights that may span up to 200 yards (183 meters). But capturing this behavior on camera is no easy task. The average airspeed of a flying fish measures 35 miles per hour (56 kilometers per hour) — about as fast as a greyhound dog. The Life crew wanted to slow down that motion enough so that the aerial acrobatics could be broken down and studied. The crew also wanted to film another elusive aspect of flying fish — reproduction. After two years of research, crew members decided that the waters off Barbados would be the perfect place to document these enigmatic animals.
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Watch "Flying Fish Fly"
FLYING BY THE SEAT OF THEIR PANTS
Fifty two species of flying fish populate the world's warm, tropical oceans. But it's the mirrorwing flying fish,
Hirundichthys speculiger, that stars in the "
Fish" episode of
Life. Mirrorwings only grow to about 12 inches (30 centimeters) long, but what they lack in size, they make up for in appearance. Their bodies are iridescent blue above and silvery white below, so that when the animals become airborne, they resemble enameled fishing lures come to life.
The mirrorwing's most noticeable feature inspires its name. Those gray "wings" are actually modified pelvic and pectoral fins. Pelvic fins are located on the bottom of a fish's body, near the middle. Pectoral fins are situated on the fish's sides, near the gill covers. The mirrorwing's pectoral fins are the main lifting surface, allowing the animal to catch air and generate lift. They don't flap their wings like hummingbirds, but glide on outstretched wings like soaring hawks and eagles.
To capture flying fish in action, the crew used a camera designed for military and ballistics applications. It shoots 1,000 frames per second, compared to the 25 frames per second offered by a traditional camera. Filming at such a high frame rate enables the motion to be slowed down to 40 times its normal speed. Of course, working with such sophisticated equipment on a small fishing boat presents its own challenges.
"Getting the camera into this environment and keeping it dry was hard," recalled Jonathan Smith, a researcher who worked on several scenes in
Life. But using it to track a mirrorwing's flight from beginning to end proved to be the biggest challenge of all. "The hardest part was filming the fish as they were taking off," said Smith.
The crew's perseverance paid off. After two weeks, Smith and cameraman Doug Anderson boarded a small raft and trolled out to reach a school of mirrorwings. This put them in the middle of the action and, despite having to dodge a few airborne fish, they were able to record some never-before-seen video.
"It was literally the last day of filming when we got the best sequence," Smith said. And what does this sequence reveal about flying fish? That they use their caudal fin, or tail fin, more than scientists ever realized. This deeply forked fin serves as a sort of propeller, with the upper lobe much shorter than the lower. As a fish emerges from the water, it vibrates its tail at 50 beats per second, allowing the animal to "taxi" across the water surface until it gains enough speed for takeoff.
Continue: Fight or Flight from the Dolphinfish
