Gasping at the surface near the pier, this fish was in trouble. Or so I thought. But it seemed to successfully dive back into the deeps, so it might have been feeding at something I couldn’t see on the surface. About 14″ long: what is it? 
And here, soon after low tide way up the Gowanus, a school of much smaller killifish, perhaps Mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus).
Fish
4 responses to “Fish”
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“Way up the Gowanus” – is this an indication that the canal is getting less polluted?
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Perhaps, although I’ve seen these little ones in the canal for years now. They seem to be pretty hardy, even in oxygen-starved, polluted water.
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The floater looks to be a large Atlantic Menhaden, (Brevoortia tyrannus). known regionally as “bunker” (pronounced “bunka”) 🙂
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Sure looks like it with that sharply veed tail! Thanks, Ron.
An oily fish once used for fertilizer; indeed, the name menhaden is supposed to be a Native American word for fertilizer. Now used for their oil and as animal feed.
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Backyard and Beyond 
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