There are few places in the world where you would find people who have not tasted and enjoyed tuna fish. There are many varieties of them, and it is estimated that about two million tons are caught each year for the fish markets or by sportsmen.
The largest is the bluefin that in mature size matches a shark or porpoise; a big one reaches 13 feet in length and weighs half a ton. But most that are caught are around three feet long, which is big enough to give a sports fisherman a real battle.
Although found in every ocean, many live in the Atlantic Ocean, with Nova Scotia and Norway being two of the places where great numbers feed. Big ones, ten feet or longer, are often taken in these places. Most are packed in ice and shipped to cities throughout Canada, the United States and Europe, as well as many being flown to other countries.
The bluefin shares with all tuna a very distinctive shape. From its large mouth to the very narrow connection at its crescent-shaped vertical tail, it is as streamlined as a dolphin, enabling it to glide through the water as easily as a bird sails through the air. It is a pretty fish, deep-blue along its well-muscled body in which the Creator has provided an extra-strong heart, so that many live to be 30 to 35 years old. It is swift and active all its life—on occasion speeding up to 50 miles per hour!
The Atlantic tuna migrate each year from the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico and the Mediterranean Sea in schools estimated to contain as many as 10,000. These migrations, as far north as the Arctic Circle and back, set a long-distance record in the fish world.
Females lay tremendous quantities of eggs which float near the surface. These hatch and grow rapidly, but many become the victims of hungry sea creatures. Those that survive weigh about nine pounds in a year's time and become mature in three or four years, but keep on growing no matter how old they become.
Tuna, as well as all other creatures, are always under God's care and live their lives through instincts He has given them. In the Bible we also find that "His eyes are upon the ways of man, and He seeth all his goings." Job 34:2121For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings. (Job 34:21). We should thank Him for this, but even more for the message, "In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live [have eternal life] through Him." 1 John 4:99In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. (1 John 4:9). Have you thanked Him for that love and made the Lord Jesus Christ your own Savior?