When you fish with us at Kona Fishing Charters, you will see and experience many kinds of amazing and wonderful fish from the Pacific Sailfish to the Mahimahi fish. We knew our readers might enjoy 10 amazing facts about each of these spectacular Kona fish that you’ll see with us at Kona Fishing Charters. Today’s blog article is dedicated to facts about Black Marlins, which you will hopefully see (and possibly even catch) when you fish with us at Kona Fishing Charters!
Ten Cool Facts about Black Marlins
1. The Black Marlin is found in the tropical and subtropical waters, including the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The Black Marlin has a wide geographic range as to where it can and will live in the ocean.
2. Black Marlin are an extremely migratory species of fish. Black Marlins can travel great distances across the oceans. One individual Black Marlin fish has been recorded to have traveled all the way from Australia to the coast of Costa Rica, culminating in a travel distance of over 9000 miles across the Pacific Ocean.
3. The appearance of the Black Marlin is fairly distinctive, like all billfish. However, the Black Marlin is the only marlin with non-retractable fins! Other than that though, the Black Marlin, like all billfish has a sword-like upper jaw. Its dorsal fin is fairly low compared to most other billfish. The dorsal fin stands less than 50% of the fish’s body height. The dorsal fin is dark blue, while its belly is silvery white, and faint blue stripes run down its sides. The blue stripes darken when they’re excited. While males may reach a length of 4.65 m and a weight of 750 kilograms, females are generally much larger than that.
4. The Black Marlin, like other billfish, are apex predators. That means that they’re an alpha predator or the top of the food chain (excluding humans). Black Marlins feed mostly on small tunas as well as other smaller fishes including squids, cuttlefishes and more. However, the smaller fish that Black Marlins feed on are not as small as you might imagine. It’s a very relative term considering that Black Marlin can weigh over 500kg. In fact, Black Marlins over that weight have been found with 50kg tuna in their stomachs! When they feed on their prey, Black Marlins use their long, sharp bills to tear apart their meal.
5. Although the Black Marlin’s appearance and migration patterns have been well examined, scientists know little of the Black Marlin’s longevity. They have very few ideas concerning how long Black Marlins live – their natural lifespan is still a question mark for the scientific community.
6. Black Marlins spawn by external fertilization. A single pregnant female can carry up to 40 million eggs!
7. These fishes are considered one of the fastest swimmers on earth, often speeding up to 80 mph (130 km/h). They zip through the ocean.
8. Typically, Black Marlins tend to remain in shallow waters. Since this species belongs to the indo-pacific region that means that the Black Marlin is found near islands and coral reefs. The Black Marlin rarely swims below a depth of 30m. Due to their migratory nature at times they enter temperate waters rather than just tropical.
9. In terms of records, the largest Black Marlin recorded weighed in at 1656 pounds and the oldest Marlin found was 32 years old.
10. The species can fight fishermen for long hours. They’re very strong and very fast which makes catching them a fun battle. Not only that, but they often make spectacularly huge jumps out of the water when battling with a fisherman. They also tend to go deeper than normal in order to escape. Artificial lures and live bait are used to pull the black marlin from the water.
There are even more amazing facts about the Black Marlin. When you book a charter for marlin fishing in Kona with us out on the beautiful Pacific at Kona Fishing Charters, we’ll answer your questions about the Black Marlin (or any other Kona fish you’re interested in) as best we can. But there’s nothing like seeing a Black Marlin for yourself, especially once you hook it and bring it aboard.
Next time in our series of Kona fish facts, we’ll give you some interesting facts about the spearfish, another Kona fish you will probably see when you come out to fish with us at Kona Fishing Charters! Call us at (808) 960-1424 to book your fishing trip!