The Broadbill Swordfish is a pelagic species, meaning they can basically be found worldwide anywhere there’s deep water with a current (Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans). You might not find these fish in Arctic waters, and I say ‘might’ because this fish that just washed up on the shores of Wales and scared the dick out of some local’s dog who found it on the beach is proof that swordfish will often show up in the most unlikely of places:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BJ5miAqD98k/
via The Daily Star UK:
Stunned John Swancott, 53, was taking an early morning stroll with wife Helen and their pet dog Toby when the pooch dashed into water.
The couple saw the whopping 90kg (200lb) beast in Freshwater East in Pembrokeshire, Wales, on the sand beside the surf.
The average weight for an 18-month-old girl is around 24lb.
History teacher John said: “Toby began barking excitedly, then we saw the fish. I couldn’t believe there was a swordfish in our waters, it was amazing.”
He added: “It must be about 8ft long, and weight between 150 and 200lb.
“I should have stood there with a fishing rod and blagged it as the biggest fish caught in Freshwater East this century and had a photo taken — I would have been pinched by all the local fishing clubs.”
First up, I love how over-the-top British this story is. The dude’s got a dog named Toby and he’s worried about taking a picture with the fish because he doesn’t want to get ‘pinched’ by the local fishing clubs. As a native Floridian, I’d just like to say that I wish we had these fishing clubs here because it would make my life a hell of a lot easier. Currently, the only ‘boat’ I own is a kayak and thus it’s sort of a massive pain in the ass for me to get offshore, a fishing club would sort that out for me and it would also introduce like-minded anglers to each other.
Now…what’s up with that big ass fish floating up on the beach in Wales? Well, I’m not a marine biologist but I’m willing to bet you bros a pint of ale that when they cut that fish open there will be some trash in its stomach that caused it to die and wash up on shore. There’s no outer damage to the fish and that leads me to believe that the swordfish wasn’t attacked and taken down by any predators. The fish isn’t exactly ‘full grown’ as broadbill swordfish regularly grow to 9+ feet in length (up to 15+ feet) and weigh hundreds and hundreds of pounds, and this fish had some growing left to do. I’m guessing there’s some plastic in the stomach of that swordfish that cut its life short.
If you haven’t eaten swordfish before you’re REALLY missing out, as I ranked it amongst the tastiest in my ‘25 Best Tasting Fish in the World‘ list from a while back.
…For more on this story you can click on over to The Daily Star UK…