How Do Sailfish Work?

impressive size and speed. A billfish species tend to be apex predators and use their bills to help hunt and catch prey. They don't literally spear the prey with their swords, but more often they use those bills to slash at and stun schooling fish. They also have visually striking dorsal fins on their backs, though none are as remarkable as

the sailfishes. Its signature sale like dorsal fin grows along almost the entire length of its body can be taller than the fish is wide from spine to stomach, a meaning that the sale is about as big as the sailfish itself, and that's pretty big. The sailfish can grow up to ten feet that's three meters long from tip to tail, and can weigh upwards of two hundred and twenty pounds that's one hundred kilos. Even at that size,

they are fast. They can swim nearly seventy miles an hour or one hundred and ten kilometers an hour, making the sailfish the fastest fish in the ocean. Just to put that in perspective, the cheetah, the fastest animal on land, tops out at about the same speed. The sailfish can be found in temperate two tropical bodies of salt water around the world. They live about four or five years in the wild, but have been known to survive about

twice that in captivity. Are they're commonly seen along the southeast coast of the United States, the Gulf of Mexico, and around Puerto Rico, Bermuda and the Windward Islands. They're also found in parts of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, with some occasionally found in the mediterrane and Sea. Though sailfish are fast, they don't typically travel far, preferring warm coastal waters and hunting grounds close to the ocean's surface. Studies have shown that sailfish can deploy and retract those

impressive fins at will. When their sale is retracted, sailfish can reduce their drag, generating more thrust and speed. The opposite is also true with the sail raised, they can increase their drag and slow down dramatically. A sailfish have distinctive color patterns too, that help differentiate them from other billfish. They have mostly blue bodies and white bellies, and a pattern of light blue spots and vertical stripes. Their fins are usually blackish blue, and their coloring can change when

they're particularly active or excited. Around the world. They have a few common prey, including large fish, squid, and crustaceans like crabs and shrimp. A sailfish have been observed working together to surround and trap schools of sardines. Method was documented with as few as for sailfish to as many as seventy, though the hunting didn't appear to be coordinated. Instead, the sailfish charged the school of sardines one at a time and used their bills to slash and prod the fish.

According to one's study, sailfish might not catch as many fish as they would if they were hunting alone, but they definitely don't have to work as hard for it. The salefish's size means that they are generally at the top of the food chain, but they are preyed upon by a few larger species, typically sharks, orcas, and Mahi mahi.

The meat of the saalefish is tough, so they have very little value on the commercial seafood market, but because of their speed, strength and striking looks, they're very popular targets for sport fishing. A recreational fisherman must use certain kinds of gear to minimize injury to the sailfish, and nearly all are catch and release. Only fishermen with a Federal Atlantic Highly Migratory Species permit can keep them, and they must be at least five and a quarter feet

or one point six meters long to be legal. For the article, this episode is based on How Stuff Works. Spoke with Captain Ray Rocher, who has been a professional fisherman since nineteen seventy nine. Rocher has decades of experience with salefish that began in the nineteen seventies when he used to eat smoked salefish at his grandfather's house. A Rocher said, my grandfather was really focused on catching them

and we grew up eating them. It was just part of our life, a staple of his days of fishing on the drift boats. Then, I would say in the eighties people became more focused on conservation and using circle hooks and releasing salefish. He explained that salefish are particularly popular for sport fishing because they're fun to pursue a quote. There's a challenge involved in catching them, and obviously they're beautiful.

They're really exciting to catch. They jump, they average about seven feet or over two meters total in length, and they fight hard. Generally, However, even though sailfish aren't targeted for commercial fishing, that's still the biggest threat to their population. A Salefish are sometimes caught along with tuna and other fish as by catch, a fishing gear for large scale food production. In the United States, the National Marine Fisheries

Service enforces conservation efforts. All commercial ships flagged in the US are prohibited from selling, retaining, or purchasing saalefish, along with all other Atlantic billfish species. As we mentioned, recreational fishers must have all proper permits to catch sailfish, and they must release them back to the ocean. Rocher said, in his experience, the conservation efforts have paid off. Quote. One of the big factors in South Florida is that

they're prevalent enough to target. Meaning if I only see one every week, people just wouldn't spend the money to pursue them. Just not common enough, right, just not achievable enough to go out and catch one or two or three a day. Salefish in their current population are that prevalent, and although fellow landlocked folks like myself might not be very familiar with it, there is a lot of money

in the sport fishing industry. Rocher said, the benefit that salefish bring to a local economy is staggering when you look at what people spend to go catch them. I have three charter boats. I also fish on other tournament boats. I can't even tell you how many hundreds of thousands of dollars are spent in my presence in a year

in the pursuit of generally or mainly salefish. Today's episode is based on the article Salefish are super fast, stunning and smart ocean predators on how stuffworks dot Com, written by scheris three Whip Brain. Stuff is production of iHeartRadio and partnership with how Stuffworks dot com and is produced by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts from my heart Radio, the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.