I saw my first sailfish underwater today and I even managed to take a photo. I say underwater as I have seen sailfish before but hanging from a deep sea fishing boat so not quite the same. Far nicer to see them in the water. These powerful fish are actually the fastest fish in the ocean, reaching speeds of 68 miles per hour. They get their name from the spectacular dorsal fin which stretches nearly the entire length of their bodies. They also have an elongated bill, which forms a distinctive spear, a bit like swordfish or marlin, so they are often referred to as billfish.
I was lucky enought to see not one but two of them. I had just come up from a dive and I saw something jump out of the water, the next minute when I looked down I saw both of them just hovering under me in the blue. I didnt really know what they were going to do and I thought they would just shoot off out of sight but it seemed like they were just looking at me as well. Their sail was up so maybe they felt threatened or maybe they had been using their sails to herd small fish to eat. They like to eat silvery fishes like anchovies and sardines and also squid.
I dont know too much about these silvery fishes, I'm more of a coral reef fish biologist but these guys were impressive to see. They can grow to more than 3 meters and weigh up to 100 kilos!! What was even nicer was just before the sailfish i saw a pod of about 10 bottlenose dolphins under the water as well, this doesnt happen too often either so all in all a very good day under the sea. You just never know what you might see..... :)
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