Flounders tend to stay near the sandy bottom, but apparently the flatfish will rise for a surf from time to time – and it’s quite a site.
Photographer Mark Smith, who has been sharing wonderful osprey footage lately via Twitter, captured the surfing flounder phenomenon during a recent video shoot at Florida’s Sebastian Inlet.
“I guess you could say it was hanging fin!” Smith joked in his Twitter description.
Ever see a #surfing #flounder? I guess you could say it was hanging fin! I’ll be here all week. Lol #florida #fishing #sony #a7slll pic.twitter.com/NwKRiPGwm7
— Mark Smith Photography (@marktakesphoto) December 27, 2020
Flounders’ eyes are on the “top” sides of their heads, because the fish are usually partially buried while looking upward to ambush food. So it must have been an interesting perspective for the flounder as it surfed and skipped atop a small wave in the inlet.
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“I’ve never seen that before,” Smith told For The Win Outdoors. But he explained that the fish will sometimes swim in warmer surface waters during cold spells.
This brings them into striking range of diving ospreys and Smith said he has lots of clips showing the fish-eating raptors with flounders in their talons.
