In Utah, the plane launched a "fish tornado"

Last week, residents of the US state of Utah witnessed an interesting event: a rotating water plume broke out of a plane flying over the lake, in which thousands of fish were circling. The Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) has settled 200 high-altitude lakes across the state in this way, according to Science Alert.

The most common species for settling reservoirs are trout and Arctic grayling. The Utah Department of Wildlife Resources states that the survival rate of fish sent into the water in such an unusual way is very high: about 95 %.

At the time of ejection from the plane, the size of the fish is from 2.5 to 7.6 cm, the wind carries them down quite gently, like leaves. During one flight, the plane carries hundreds of liters of water and up to 35 thousand fish.

So that the fish does not suffer during the landing, the pilots try to fly as low as possible, sometimes at the height of the trees, which requires great skill.

Such actions on the settlement of reservoirs with fish have been held since 1956. Before the use of airplanes, people carried fish to remote mountain lakes on horseback, this was more stressful for aquatic inhabitants than being thrown out of an airplane.

The fish is grown in hatcheries, its quantity in the wild is controlled by specialists to prevent a sharp increase or decline in the population and to ensure minimal impact on local species.