‘Incredibly rare’ sighting of swordfish near Isle of Man
A SWORDFISH has been spotted in UK waters in an “incredibly rare” occurrence that could be the result of rising sea temperatures.
The 10ft-long fish, known for its long pointed bill, was spotted in the Irish Sea, five miles off the Isle of Man.
Swordfish are typically found in the more tropical waters of the mid-atlantic, Pacific and the Mediterranean.
It is thought there have only been five swordfish sightings ever in UK waters.
The swordfish was caught on camera by Manx Whale and Dolphin Watch.
Jen Adams, from the charity, said: “We suddenly saw this massive animal leaping out of the water.
“I got my binoculars on it and saw clearly that it wasn’t a dolphin and then made out the long bill of a swordfish. There was no mistaking it. We switched the engines off so that we didn’t scare it away. Then after about 10 minutes it reappeared and approached us. It was three metres long and a third of that was its bill. It was huge.
“It was amazing to see and incredibly rare – something that you would never expect to see in a million years.
“Swordfish are off-shore oceanic species found in the north west Atlantic and the Mediterranean, not in-shore UK waters. I believe there have been no more than five swordfish sightings ever in the UK.
“I have no idea what it was doing here. It baffled us. It may well of gone off course in search of food; they feed on oily fish like mackerel and herring.
“We are seeing a lot of large pods of about 200 dolphins this year and that is probably because there is a lot of food for them here. It may be the same for swordfish.”
The occurrence of exotic marine species is not new, and the Gulf Stream has brought warmer water animals to our shores.