November 11, 2022
BANGKOK – Thousands of fish jumping onto a bridge on Ko Lanta, a tourist island in Krabi province, left hordes of tourists dazzled.
While docking his boat at a pier at Lanta Yai Island on Wednesday afternoon, Sunan Madsaron, a Krabi local, said he saw thousands of small fish jumping on a concrete bridge connecting the pier to the land, prompting him to take a video with his phone.
Sunan said locals called these fish “Ta Maew”, or cat-eye fish, that usually live in shallow waters near the shore. They occasionally jump on land and locals would pick them up, sometimes enough to fill a fertiliser sack, and cook them as food.
An official at Krabi provincial fishery office said that the cat-eye fish is native to Ko Lanta’s shore and would sometimes jump on land during its egg-laying season, which is around March and November.
It is still unclear as to why they would jump out of the water, although some sources said fish might jump out of the water simultaneously when oxygen is inadequate, according to the official.
Ko Lanta Yai is part of Mu Ko Lanta National Park, a famous marine tourist destination about 20km off the coast of Krabi.
