|
The Sea of Cortez by
Theresa Comber
The Sea of Cortez aquarium can be a bit stingy with her most
prized possessions, but in the past week it seems as though
the Mistress of the Fishes has shined favor upon me. After
waiting nearly ten years, I’ve finally seen my first
Swordfish, or broadbill, as in-the-know anglers like to call
them. Offshore about 15 miles north east off Cardonal, it
was easy to see it was a billfish – but my brain’s hard
drive wasn’t identifying it as the ubiquitous striped marlin
or one of my beloved sailfish. This smooth, very confident
creature looked big, solidly round, and particularly
unimpressed with us as ‘Awesome’ approached. Captain Luis
shut off the motor as he had done a few days before when
lucky whale watching guests onboard were treated to this
unusual experience. Staring at the strong, upright dorsal
fin it appeared to me to have a sister fin trailing behind
it, which in fact was its equally strong tail, giving the
impression that perhaps there were two fish. Relying on
their great speed – swordfish can swim as fast as 50 mph
when in pursuit of food and they use their broadbill for
slashing and damaging their pray rather than actually
spearing it. Because swordfish feed more often at night, an
angler’s daytime catch is highly coveted and earns big time
bragging rights (ask my talented and lucky friend Mark Rayor
of Vista Sea Sports fame – two caught in one day on his 60th
birthday!). How about this? These fish have the unique
physiology of containing a built-in heater near their eyes
to improve their vision at depth. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swordfish.)
In fact, although referred to as a ‘pelagic’ game fish –
meaning they are found in the epipelagic ‘sunlit’
water column near the surface, Swordfish can also be found
further below in the lower, colder mesopelagic
‘twilight’ layer where conditions change, darken and
pressure increases. We admired and strategically pursued
this prize for more than 30 minutes. Acting as deckhand,
Captain Adan used all his skills to coax this fish into
interest, but with a belly likely full of ‘mesopelagic’ deep
water squid, we were left only to our admiring. (Don’t tell
anyone, but for me, that’s the way I prefer it!) ‘The Sea of
Cortez…get ON it!’ Theresa Comber,
combertheresa@hotmail.com
Awesome Sportfishing & Whale Watching Coast Cruise
|
