sailfish – Syndication Server

Marlin causes ‘huge commotion’ before being caught in Cabo marina

Footage shows the marlin inside the harbor at Baja California’s tip. “Of course this caused huge commotion on the docks.”

Last summer we shared footage showing a sailfish – described by National Geographic as “the fastest fish in the ocean” – swimming inside Mexico’s Cabo San Lucas Marina.

The rare appearance was brief as the sailfish soon breezed back into bluer offshore waters, where it belonged.

On Sunday a striped marlin was caught on video swimming around the docks in the same marina, at Baja California’s tip, in another rare event that did not end well for the billfish. (See footage below.)

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“So this happened yesterday… A Striped Marlin made its way into the Cabo Marina in front of our Pisces Office!” Pisces Sportfishing exclaimed Monday via Instagram. “The Marlin cruised around the slips seemingly confused in the shallow water.

“Of course this caused huge commotion on the docks and unfortunately for the Marlin a group of men caught it later on.”

Pisces spokeswoman Rebecca Ehrenberg told FTW Outdoors that the marlin was gaffed and hauled onto a dock.

Cabo San Lucas is billed as “The Marlin Capital of the World,” but most encounters occur in the deep blue – and most anglers release the marlin they hook.

But the marina, positioned where the Pacific meets the Sea of Cortez, is occasionally visited by creatures more commonly found in offshore waters.

Ehrenberg said a marlin entered the marina last year, too, and that in late August a school of large squid was captured on video in an “amazing sight” under the lights at night.

“Right in front of Captain Tony’s [restaurant] – calamari anybody,” Pisces joked via Facebook. “Maybe they came for the music.”

That reel can be viewed via this link or in the player below.

Rare white sailfish caught off Guatemala; ‘One-in-a-million’

Pacific Fins Resort explained the last known catch-and-release of a white sailfish in Guatemala waters occurred in 2018.

A luxury fishing resort in Guatemala last week announced the extraordinary catch of a white Pacific sailfish.

“The Billfish Unicorn, one in a million, or an albino sailfish? Whatever you want to call it, it’s a sight you will never forget,” Pacific Fins Resort boasted via social media.

The strikingly rare sailfish, caught by Paul Renfro and his group aboard the 40-foot vessel Libertad, was described as leucistic.

(Leucism, unlike albinism, does not affect the pigmentation in an animal’s eyes.)

Pacific Fins Resort concluded its post:

“Guatemala is known as the sailfish capital of the world, but with the thousands of sails released each year, it’s a rare catch for sure. The last time this happened was in 2018, when another leucistic sailfish was caught in our waters.”

The secondary sailfish image, also courtesy of Pacific Fins Resort, is for the sake of comparison.

Rare sighting: World’s fastest fish sails into Cabo San Lucas marina

Sailfish, typically encountered far from shore, were documented swimming inside the Cabo San Lucas marina on Wednesday.

The marina in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, is where the Pacific meets the Sea of Cortez, and game fish abound in offshore waters.

But on Wednesday, folks did not even have to board a boat to encounter a type of billfish described by National Geographic as “the fastest fish in the ocean.”

The accompanying footage, shared Wednesday by the Pisces Sportfishing Fleet, shows a large sailfish cruising inside the marina.

“Filmed by Javi Sanchez this AM in the marina in Cabo – apparently there were 3 or 4 Sails that came straight into the Marina and he caught this one on film,” Pisces wrote on Facebook. “After a few minutes the Sailfish made their way back out to the bay!”

Sailfish are typically encountered far from shore in tropical and subtropical waters. They are speedsters without peer, capable of swimming in bursts up to 68 mph.

Pisces Sportfishing crewman releases a sailfish caught offshore in 2021.

Sailfish are named, obviously, for their large dorsal fins, which resemble sails when the they’re exposed at the surface.

It’s not known why the sailfish entered the Cabo marina, but sailfish often use their dorsal fins to corral schooling baitfish.

As for other game fish, Cabo San Lucas anglers are currently enjoying the “hottest yellowfin tuna bite of the year,” according to Pisces Sportfishing.

Did a stingray really kill this mako shark? Many are skeptical

Beachgoers north of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, recently found a freshly killed mako shark with what they believe was a stingray barb protruding from its head.

Beachgoers north of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, recently found a freshly killed mako shark with what they believed was a stingray barb protruding from its head.

“A shark that washed out on the beach in San Jose del Cabo. Apparently because it lost a battle with a stingray,” Arturo Chacon, owner of Tag Cabo Sportfishing, wrote on Instagram.

His post has been widely shared and the images have been “borrowed” by other social media users, spreading the stingray theory.

But did a stingray really kill the mako shark? Or was the culprit, perhaps, a much swifter billfish?

https://www.instagram.com/p/CLrp_3hLru9/

For The Win Outdoors shared the post with Chris Lowe, who runs the Shark Lab at Cal State Long Beach in Southern California. Lowe was skeptical as to whether it was a stingray barb, citing its thickness, but added that he could not tell for sure without seeing more than what appeared in Chacon’s image.

“My alternate guess is a marlin or sailfish bill, but hard to tell without seeing the whole thing,” Lowe said. “Either way, it must have incapacitated the shark enough for it to strand on the beach. Dead sharks sink, so it might have disoriented the shark. Based on the angle of attack, the object likely didn’t pierce the shark’s brain.”

Tracy Ehrenberg, whose family runs Pisces Sportfishing in Cabo San Lucas, agreed with Lowe.

“First thought would be stingray, but shark skin is extremely tough especially in that area and I do not believe a stingray could penetrate the skin, so my guess would be a sailfish,” she said. “Fastest fish in the ocean, swam at the shark at speed, impaled [the shark] and and broke its bill off.”

On the Tag Cabo Sportfishing Instagram post, the Living Sharks Museum in Rhode Island reached out to Chacon, asking if he had more images because “there is some debate regarding details going on in the scientific community about this that could be put to rest with more evidence.”

Chacon told For The Outdoors that he did not possess any other images.

He said he was walking on the beach when he and others discovered the shark Feb. 18. “It looked like it was fresh or lost its life not long ago,” Chacon said. “I cannot tell you for sure what it was, so I just assumed it was from a big stingray.”

Chacon added that another local, who was on the beach with a truck, collected the the shark and drove off. “He said he was going to eat it,” Chacon said.

–Images courtesy of Tag Cabo Sportfishing

Watch: Bull sharks steal anglers’ catch in frenzied attack

Passengers on a Florida sportfishing charter witnessed up close the raw power of voracious bull sharks as they attacked a hooked sailfish.

Passengers on a recent Florida sportfishing charter witnessed up close the raw power of voracious bull sharks as they attacked a sailfish that had been reeled to the stern.

The accompanying footage, captured by Rhonda’s Osprey on Feb. 26 off Palm Beach, shows the chaotic moments after at least two bull sharks appeared after one of the crew had grabbed the wire leader in an attempt to safely release the sailfish.

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“Grab its bill!” Capt. Joe Drosey is heard saying, only to bemoan moments later, “Ain’t nothing to grab now.”

First mate Sasha Lickle was closest to the action, smartly keeping her arms raised as she held the leader, watching helplessly as the sharks devoured the catch.

Drosey told the Miami Herald that this type of dramatic encounter is occurring more frequently as sharks have appear to have discovered that a hooked game fish is a lot easier to catch as a free-swimming game fish.

“Sailfish swim 65 mph, so they can’t catch them on their own,” Drosey explained. “It’s a huge problem. Three years ago, I’d say sharks ate 5 to 10 percent of the fish we caught. Last year, it was about 10 to 15 percent. This year, 25 percent of every one we catch are eaten.”

–Video courtesy of Rhonda’s Osprey, via the Miami Herald