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Learn about the endangered Atlantic bluefin tuna, the largest and most valuable tuna species. Find out how WWF works to stop overfishing, illegal fishing and pirate fishing in the Mediterranean Sea and beyond.
Learn about the Atlantic bluefin tuna, a highly prized food fish and a threatened species. Find out its taxonomy, description, distribution, ecology, and conservation status.
Learn about the unique adaptations of the Atlantic bluefin tuna, the largest and longest-lived of the 15 tuna species. Watch a TED-Ed lesson by Grantly Galland and Raiana McKinney, directed by Anna Benner, and see how these fish go from tiny hatchling to ocean giant.
- 5 min
- 1.9M
- TED-Ed
- Habitat and Migration
- Fight and Speed
- Diet
- Overfishing
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Atlantic bluefins are warm-blooded, a rare trait among fish, and are comfortable in the cold waters off Newfoundland and Iceland, as well as the tropical waters of the Gulf of Mexico and the Mediterranean Sea, where they go each year to spawn. They are among the most ambitiously migratory of all fish, and some tagged specimens have been tracked swi...
They are prized among sport fishers for their fight and speed, shooting through the water with their powerful, crescent-shaped tails up to 43 miles per hour. They can retract their dorsal and pectoral fins into slots to reduce drag. And some scientists think the series of “finlets” on their tails may even serve to reduce water turbulence.
Bluefins attain their enormous size by gorging themselves almost constantly on smaller fish, crustaceans, squid, and eels. They will also filter-feed on zooplankton and other small organisms and have even been observed eating kelp. The largest tuna ever recorded was an Atlantic bluefin caught off Nova Scotia that weighed 1,496 pounds.
Bluefin tuna have been eaten by humans for centuries. However, in the 1970s, demand and prices for large bluefins soared worldwide, particularly in Japan, and commercial fishing operations found new ways to find and catch these sleek giants. As a result, bluefin stocks, especially of large, breeding-age fish, have plummeted, and international conse...
Learn about the Atlantic bluefin tuna, one of the largest, fastest, and most gorgeously colored of all the world’s fishes. Find out how overfishing, migration, diet, and reproduction affect this endangered species.
May 27, 2024 · Learn about the bluefin tuna, one of the largest and most endangered fish in the world. Find out its scientific name, classification, evolution, appearance, diet, predators, threats, and more.
Learn about the distribution, physiology, life cycle and commercial fishery of the Pacific bluefin tuna, a predatory species of tuna found widely in the northern Pacific Ocean. The species is considered near threatened by the IUCN and PEW, and is overfished but not subject to overfishing.
Learn about the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna, one of the fastest and strongest predators in the open ocean. Discover its life cycle, behavior, threats, and cultural significance in this article.
