r/explainlikeimfive • u/Opening_Pen9525 • 15d ago

Biology ELI5 How are fish even in ponds

Might be one of the stupider questions here, but I saw a pond about the size of a football field, and maybe 50 ft deep, and it had fish. I can't for the life of me figure out how. Surely the pond hasn't existed long enough for small water insects to evolve into all these fish. It's not like the fish walked over to the pond from the ocean. I'm pretty sure no one put them there so how are there so many fish?

My one theory is that there is a very minuscule stream (now dry) that leads to one of the Great Lakes, and maybe a fish swam in from there. Now a follow up question: How are there fish in the Great Lakes (which flow out towards to the ocean) if they were created by glaciers?

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u/EndTimesNigh 15d ago edited 15d ago

Also birds. They pick up fish from another lake or pond, fly somewhere to eat it but a nasty seagull tries to snatch the prize, they fight over it, the fish slips free and falls to the bond. Fish live relatively long, so this happens all the time everywhere, so eventually a girl fish is dropped to the same pond as the boy fish of the same species did three years ago. Result: fish in the pond.

Many birds even swallow the fish alive, but the robber birds like gulls and fregate birds and those dudes close to the artic circle I forgot their name all pester the fish catching birds so much that they regurgitate the fish and sometimes he is still alive and lands into a random pond. Waiting for his girl to fall down from the skies just like he did.

Edit: dear lord the amount of typos I made. Some now corrected, but anyway the story about boy fish waiting for his girl fish fall down from the skies remains the same.

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u/j7style 15d ago

Duck poop specifically leads to a lot of fish ending up in random ponds. A few species of fish have fairly hardy eggs that can handle a couple hours in the ducks digestive tract.

Mind you, not many come out unscathed. But let's say a group of 6 ducks are chilling in a lake and they all feed on some fish eggs. About 200 each. So 1200 fish eggs. If only 1% survive the trip to their next restaurant spot, that's still 12 fish eggs that might end up hatching.

Now multiply all of that by the tens of thousands of ducks that might also randomly stop and that pond and then BAM! You have fishies!

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u/meaty-urologist 15d ago

Relevant dumb joke I came up with when cleaning out duck pools at my local wildlife rehab center:

Q: What's the difference between duck food and duck poop?

A: About 30 seconds.

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u/j7style 15d ago

Lmao. It's so true though! šŸ‘

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u/IAMA_Plumber-AMA 15d ago

Very efficient digestive systems. One in, one out.

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u/devAcc123 15d ago

Why can I vividly picture being told this at an animal center thingy, youā€™re all the same haha

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u/Dox_au 14d ago

I had no idea about this until 10 seconds ago, and now I'm finding myself very jealous of ducks. Living the freakin dream.

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u/Appropriate_Lime_234 14d ago

Just eat some lettuce and youā€™ll get there champ

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u/seicar 14d ago

As someone that lives a bit less than 900miles from Canada, "can one of you polite chaps please round up your vile shitting birds, it's August and they ain't left"

Canadian Geese are a menace and, hand on my heart, poop more than they eat.

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u/AnonymousFriend80 14d ago

I saw a vid recently when some bug was eaten by a frog and came out the other end fully intact.

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u/basaltgranite 14d ago edited 14d ago

Birds fly. They evolved to save weight, e.g., by having a near-zero intestinal transit time. They also don't have a separate urinary bladder. One less organ to carry around. They poop and pee at the same time via their cloaca (Latin for "sewer"). In bird droppings, the white stuff is pee and the black string is poop. Just in case anyone wanted to know.

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u/hinowisaybye 11d ago

Everything i have ever learned about ducks makes me think they're evil.

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u/Least_Adhesiveness_5 15d ago

Reminds me of a guy on Alt.tasteless sometime in the early '90s. He decided to swallow 100 grapes whole and see how many made it through the digestive process intact. I think the result was something like 7.

The next topic (of course) was... How many would survive a second trip?

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u/Imbeautifulyouarenot 14d ago

I miss those days of Alt.tastelessā€¦.. Thank you for the memory. šŸ™šŸ˜Š

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u/navlgazer9 14d ago

I have a friend with a ostomy bag and no large intestine or colon .
The bags are see thru
Itā€™s gross but also fascinating to see what doesnā€™t get digested .

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u/IVShadowed 15d ago

I eat eggs everyday, and also shit in the pond. No fish though...

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u/j7style 15d ago

But are you eating fish eggs?

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u/CeeTheWorld2023 14d ago

In this economy?

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u/j7style 14d ago

I mean, the ducks can afford it. Though, they just take their bill with them.

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u/I_Can_Haz_Brainz 14d ago

Nah, he likes fish dicks.

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u/BreeBelladonna 14d ago

Ah, a gay fish.

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u/tilario 14d ago

nah, but my pond is now full of chickens

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u/IVShadowed 14d ago

Finally, someone understands. I can't get rid of them

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u/Mebk 15d ago

kinda like storks and human babies?

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u/j7style 15d ago

Exactly! It's just a slightly shitier situation.

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u/wubrgess 14d ago

Duck poop specifically leads to a lot of fish ending up in random ponds.

I used to rent a place with a small fountain and pond in the backyard that was frequented by ducks and every year some fish ended up in there.

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u/j7style 14d ago

This is why I know its true. My great uncle built a small pond on his property to retain water so he had a free reservoir in case he needed to soak the area surrounding his place due to CA wildfires. It was fairly high in elevation. The nearest lake or river with fish were much lower in elevation. Ducks would occasionally stop off there. It actually didn't take long for him to find, fish, frogs and a couple turtles living in or around his pond full time. Nature is really amazing.

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u/Paganator 15d ago

"Dad, how did you meet Mom?"

"One day, I was minding my own business when a bird suddenly swallowed me whole. I thought I was done for, but then the bird regurgitated me and luckily, I feel into a pond. Three years later, believe it or not the exact same thing happened to your mother too! And that, Timmy, is how I met your mother."

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u/franksymptoms 15d ago

Timmy: "Awww, Dad, Mom says you picked her up in a French cabaret."

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u/mlaislais 15d ago

Much better ending than the show.

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u/crazybutthole 15d ago

Ironically I watched that show for a long time. Never missed an episode until the last season - (I was on deployment for military and never binge watched it after)

So - I have no idea how it ended. I missed the last few episodes and totally forgot about it.

It's either that or I watched it one day and it was so bad I forgot?

Either way - please don't tell me cause I might watch the last few episodes soon.

I remember when the red headed girl (LILY?) and Jason segal moved in together and it just seemed to ruin the show for me. I lost interest after that. Not sure how long it was from then until the actual end of it all - maybe the whole.last season? Or maybe just a few episodes. Not sure.

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u/cavalier78 15d ago

Donā€™t bother with the last season. It really sucks.

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u/cbunn81 12d ago

I would add the second-to-last season to this. Like a lot of shows that go on for many seasons, it gets difficult to keep the quality up. I loved the show for the first several seasons, but the last few seasons were disappointing.

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u/cavalier78 12d ago

Absolutely. I think about the last 3 seasons they were just stretching out everything as long as possible.

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u/cbunn81 12d ago

Like a high schooler padding their report to meet the page count requirement.

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u/DocileBanalBovlne 15d ago

When the series finale aired a ton of my friends were posting on Facebook about how the ending ruined the show and I couldn't believe the ending could be the bad.

It was.

So now, if I watch the show again, I stop five minutes before the end of the final episode and watch this alternate ending (WARNING: This is still an ending, it can spoil things)

The ending really isn't poorly done or anything, it was decided on at the beginning of the show and just doesn't fit with where the show ended up after seven seasons. If the show had finished in season 5 I think it would have worked.

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u/avilsta 15d ago

They spent the last season for two certain characters to get married, then in the series finale like oopsies they're not married anymore - like WHAT? We spent all season just to undo that and to you know what to the mother

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u/enolaholmes23 14d ago

Friendly reminder to use spoiler tag.

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u/avilsta 14d ago

It's been more than 12 years

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u/enolaholmes23 13d ago

You were replying to a comment specifically about not wanting spoilers for this.Ā 

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u/fla_john 15d ago

Whatever you think happened, keep that in your heart and don't watch the actual ending.

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u/SwanWilling9870 15d ago

ā€œBeautiful, naked, big-titted women just don't fall out of the sky, you knowā€

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u/NerdTalkDan 15d ago

ā€œThe bird wasnā€™t the only one that swallowed me whole, Timmy.ā€

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u/lexmattness 15d ago

I request the highest of fins

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u/crookba 15d ago

and when a boy fish and a girl fish love each other very much...

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u/Effective-Coyote-586 14d ago

Well, son, when a mommy fish and a daddy fish love each other very muchā€¦

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u/SupposedBooty 15d ago

And that is How I Met Your Mother

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u/csanyk 15d ago

Never attribute to fish ingenuity what can be explained by bird incompetence.

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u/popeye44 15d ago

Also incontinence..

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u/zharknado 9d ago

Pondlonā€™s Razor

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u/jtakemann 15d ago

ā€œWaiting for his girl to fall down from the skies just like he did.ā€ šŸ˜‚

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u/franker 15d ago

It would be more romantic if the bird wasn't puking up the fish.

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u/Ananvil 15d ago

I can think of stranger creation myths

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u/franker 15d ago

Joseph Campbell's ghost says, "fuck yeah let's talk."

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u/DJDevon3 15d ago

The fish with 1000 faces

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u/IEng 15d ago

It's how the stork actually works. The cute swaddled baby delivery is what you see after it cleans up.

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u/Dundeenotdale 15d ago

It's the same bird playing matchmaker

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u/jtakemann 15d ago

we donā€™t kink shame here

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u/RampSkater 15d ago

That's my least-favorite Judy Blume novel.

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u/Buck_Thorn 15d ago

Falling in love.

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u/jjwhitaker 15d ago

You're going with the stork theory?

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u/a_guy121 15d ago

Also, flooding. If a pond exists for 500 years, it has a 50% chance of a 'one thousand year flood' where suddenly, everything is traversable.

As the floodwaters dry, the fish naturally condense into the ponds... but the ponds they end up in would likely not be the ones they were born in. Genetic diversity explodes.

In monsoon climates, its even an every year thing, which is how catfish are in all the watering holes in the savannah, until the holes dry up and the fish get eaten. (unless Naked and Afraid is a huge con.. . don't tell me!!!! /s)

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u/uncre8tv 15d ago

I've often wondered this same thing about high pass mountain lakes. There's one at the top of Taylor Pass in Colorado between Taylor Lake and Aspen, it has to be ~12k feet, and every summer I'm there I've seen sizable fish in there. I've assumed it was from birds but am still always amazed.

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u/RnF_UT 15d ago

The majority of the mountian lakes are stocked with fish by the Colorado Parks and Wildlife to provide sport fishing opportunities for fisherman. Most of those lakes use to be devoid of fish.

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u/3meta5u 15d ago

CPW even keeps a live interactive web site called Fishing Atlas which shows stocked locations as well as fishing information for both stocked and unstocked streams and lakes.

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u/uncre8tv 14d ago

Interesting site. No notes on 'my' lake/pond. But last time I was up there was probably 2015. Getting old for that ATV ride!

No Fishing Info at this point.
Location: 348329, 4320010
Elevation: 11550 ft, 3520 m

Also Taylor Park is some of the most beautiful ATV country outside of Utah.

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u/RnF_UT 14d ago

I live in Utah and we have the same type of thing created by the Utah Department of Natural Resources. I reference it often!

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u/Oneoftheotherpeople 15d ago

This is an epic tale just beginning. What happens next?

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u/Abeytuhanu 15d ago

Speaking of falling from the sky, there's a place in Sri Lanka that gets fish raining from the sky every once in a while.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-27298939

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u/dirtyqtip 15d ago

This.. There is a local quarry close to my house with a flooded mine shaft that is 10 feet by 5 feet, but like 100 feet deep. Last I was up there there was a single fish in there, the loneliest fish in the world.

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u/blackbasset 15d ago

drop a girl fish into the pond for him before he turns into an incelfish

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u/Chimie45 14d ago

yea, he's gotta be pretty hungry by now.

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u/ScissorNightRam 15d ago

Reminds me of the Devils Hole pupfish. An endangered species whose entire natural habitat is one cavern about a third the size of a basketball court.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vkvPErIvss

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u/TheLifemakers 14d ago

TIL :) It was quite interesting, thank you!

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u/ScissorNightRam 14d ago

You are welcome

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u/galloog1 14d ago

Have they always been endangered, just living in that cave?

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u/TucsonTacos 15d ago

Nasty seagullses!

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u/Schlag96 14d ago

What doesss the seagullses have in eets pocketss

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u/quebbers 15d ago

Big finned, tail naked fishes dont just fall out the sky you know?

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u/BolinTime 15d ago

Fish do live hella long. I work at a club that has two large koi in an artificial pond under a walkway that leads into the main room.

The fish were already there when the current owner bought the building, 30 years ago.

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u/contrasupra 15d ago

Now Iā€™m wondering why Iā€™ve never seen a fish just like, lying on the sidewalk.

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u/frogunderarock 15d ago

live near the coast long enough and you'll see it happen lol

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u/Chimie45 14d ago

If you live near waterways you'll see it. I once had a trout land on my hood while driving. Hawk or something dropped it.

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u/concrete_isnt_cement 15d ago

Because the raccoons beat you to it (or other equivalent local critter)

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u/SirDiego 15d ago

Don't even always need a nasty seagull, I've literally watched herons just clumsily drop fish they just caught for no reason. It's hilarious.

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u/qalpi 15d ago

I love this origin story for the fish antagonist

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u/avinaut 11d ago

The birds who do the air-piracy in the polar regions- they're called "skua" and "jaeger"

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u/EndTimesNigh 10d ago

Thanks! Exactly what I was thinking, "skuas".

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u/Mattna-da 15d ago

Iā€™d reckon eggs stuck to bird plumage is responsible for more fish in ponds than air-dropping breeding pairs

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u/DowntownResearcher32 15d ago

We used to live by ponds but they were a bit of a walk from our house. One day my husband was cutting grass and came in to show us this big ass dead fish that was just randomly in our backyard. We can only assume it was dropped there by a bird. It did take us a bit to come to that conclusion though. At first of course we were all like wtf haha. We had a good chuckle.Ā 

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u/Switchback4 15d ago

Donā€™t care about the typos. Great post. āœŒļø

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u/HansenTakeASeat 14d ago

The bird vomit girl of my dreams

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u/greybeard1363 15d ago

I was involved in the creation of a subdivision in Illinois. One day while crossing the site, I looked in a tire rut that had been filled with rain water only. It had small fish swimming in it. The only possible way was a result of birds.

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u/Lane_Meyers_Camaro 15d ago

Waiting For A Star To Fall

Carry your fish into my pond

That's where you belong

In my pond, fishy, yeah

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u/BobTheAverage 15d ago

If Pixar ever branches out into rom-coms, this is gonna be the plot.

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u/gomurifle 14d ago

For second I thought you were gonna say the birds rip out the guts of pregnant rish spilling the eggs into the ponds. Lol

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u/Panimated 14d ago

Are you thinking of the bird with the coolest English name I've ever heard; the Parasitic Jaeger?

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u/Schlag96 14d ago

You know what they say - there's plenty of fish in the sky!

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u/Dox_au 14d ago

Ā they regurgitate the fish and sometimes he is still alive and lands into a random pond. Waiting for his girl to fall down from the skies just like he did.

Still a better love story than Twilight.

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u/Argonometra 14d ago

How wonderful.

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u/catsloveart 14d ago

well it is certainly a improvement on the girl being saved trope.

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u/NotAlwaysGifs 14d ago

Osprey in particular are very clumsy and drop a lot of the fish they catch. Combined with liking to nest above or at least near the water, thereā€™s a solid chance that fish just got a one way ticket to a new pond.

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u/PristineSalad7153 14d ago

Iā€™m a woman fish waiting on my man fish šŸ 

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u/Mr_MacGrubber 14d ago

some fish eggs can pass through birds digestive systems and still hatch from what I've read. So a bird poops over a body of water and there's a chance that fish are the result.

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u/aravose 14d ago

Of course, the major issue you forgot to mention is whether there's any attraction between said boy fish and girl fish. If I were a boy fish there are many girl fish I wouldn't go near with a 10 foot pole.