Why Can Flying Fish Fly?

In the East China Sea and South China Sea there is a kind of fish that can glide. At the turn of spring and summer every year, they often jump out of water in groups to a height of five to six metres, gliding over one hundred metres. When gliding, they look like they can fly; there-fore, they are called flying fish.

Flying fish have such developed pectoral fins that when they jump out of water they can use them as birds' wings. Why do flying fish jump out of the water?

While swimming, flying fish some- times encounter violent large fish chasing chasing after them. Then they have to swim with the highest speed. They beat the seawater with the latter part of their bodies to jump out of water and "fly" back to the sea after flying a certain distance.