Fish fly... but why?

We cruising folk have many times gazed in amazement as these little critters break from their watery bonds and fly gracefully through the air; sometimes for hundreds of feet. Most times when making a long run in open ocean, they are about all you see, aside from the occasional sea turtle.

Like this one our buddy Will found on the bow after an all night run up the east coast. This little guy had to have flown at least 8 feet in altitude or he could not have landed on our bow. Usually they cruise at 2 feet max.
But surfing around this morning I came across an interesting video by Discovery Channel. Included inside.

Sorry about the commercial... Interesting though.




Cut from article @ Discovery Mag's web site.

Fish aren't birds. Seems like a simple enough argument; one lives in the water, the other flies around and lives pretty much wherever it likes.
Then there are flying fish. Like flying squirrels and scuba divers, these animals appear profoundly confused about which element they belong in. They blur the lines about what it means to be a "fish". The thing is, they're good at it -- flying fish can remain aloft for up to 45 seconds and travel a quarter of a mile above the water.
How do they do it? Two engineers at Seoul National University in Korea, Haecheon Choi and Hyungmin Park, have just found out.

Article here....Fish Fly