Breaching swordfish soars from California waters. See the ‘amazing’ video

During an eight-hour excursion, boaters got the chance to see a “super rare sight” — a swordfish launching itself from the water off the coast of California, boaters said.

“It’s one of those things where you don’t know what it is until you look back at the photos. Is it a swordfish? Is it a dolphin? Is it a marlin?” Laura Lopez, a naturalist with Dana Wharf Whale Watch, told McClatchy News in a Sept. 2 phone interview.

The boaters were “pretty far north,” about 30 miles out near Catalina Island when they spotted a fin whale, Lopez said.

“The fin whale had gone on a dive, and we saw a flash, so we continued toward that direction, and I just started taking pictures, and the drone pilot was already launched,” she said. “When he flew over and got footage of the breaching, we didn’t know what it was until we looked back at the footage.”

The “pretty good-sized swordfish” even began coming toward the boat, she said.

“It came right at the boat, and we watched it for like 15 minutes,” she said.

The swordfish was crossing the bow, even charging the boat, giving boaters the chance to get a good look at its long bill, Lopez said.

“It was an incredible encounter, everyone was so memorized, that kind of stuff is so magical because you might never see it again. It was amazing,” she said.

As for its behavior, Lopez says there’s a chance the swordfish was hunting, using its long bill as a means to stun its prey, making for an easier catch.

“They don’t stab their prey, it’s more swimming at high rates of up to 60 miles per hour, they take their long bill and go from side to side to stun their prey,” she said. “It’s similar to when a dolphin slaps their tail against the water to stun their prey.”

The day for the boaters began with a lot of activity, starting with watching dolphins, followed by the fin whale sighting, which led them to the swordfish. It ended with a “massive area of life with birds feeding on anchovies,” Lopez said.

“I don’t think anyone on that boat had seen a swordfish breach like that before, and we’re talking about people who’ve been doing this for 20-something years,” she said.

The boat’s captain explained the day perfectly: “One sighting led to another,” she said.

Dana Point is about a 70-mile drive southeast from downtown Los Angeles.