Need to ID large fish seen above water in GA

[dlwalke]

While kayaking this week, off of Tybee island in Georgia, I saw a very large fish leap from the water. There were 2 sightings approximately 10 minutes apart. The fish was about 5 or 6 feet long. I would guess it was in about 5 ft of water, maybe 50 feet off shore, with lots of waves (whitecaps) and turbidity (vis approx 1 ft).. Do tarpon jump even when not hooked? Do Dolphin (the fish) ever jump? Although I only got a fleeting glimpse from a distance, it looked similar to both in general body shape and I have read that delphin , although typically an offshore species, occasionally come in close. Whatever it was, it was quite impressive.

Dave

 

[The Kraken]

It was probably a dolphin. They move north and south parallel to the beach at Tybee in the mornings and late afternoons.

Sometimes, if you're lucky, you can paddle out about 500 yards and they'll come up and check out your boat.

I used to take my whitewater kayak down there and go out in the ocean and play.

 

[dlwalke]

Cool. I've paddled off of Little Tybee on many occasions (I visit from Atlanta) and have seen most everything I have seen a dozen times or so at least, but that was a first. Thanks for the headsup about them coming up to your boat. If one did that while I was 500 yds offshore and I didn't know what it was, I would otherwise become somewhat apprehensive. Now I look forward to it. It did have the blunted nose of a dolphin although it was a quick sighting and I wasn't sure. Also, didn't know they jumped. Is there a particular time of year you are most likely to see them? I'd like to see one again. I believe I saw it near low tide, probably within an hour or so of the turn.

It was the tail end of my vacation to West Palm Springs where I saw lots of other cool stuff (several large sharks [bull, hammerhead, nurse], morays, sea turtles, etc.) underwater. All in all, an excellent week for sea creature sightings!
Dave

 

[dlwalke]

P.S.

Are you talking about dolphin the fish or dolphin the mammal. It definitely was not the mammal variety. I see those all the time swimming about off of Tybee. This was a fish. The only thing big enough that I know of that might be in those parts would be a tarpon or dolphin (fish).

Thanks,
Dave

 

[The Kraken]

I was thinking you were talking about the bottle nosed dolphin. Please forgive my inadvertent lapse of judgement in you ability to recognize marine mammals. ANYONE that's out sea kayaking certainly knows the difference between the porpoise and fishes!!!.
It certainly wasn't a tarpon.
I'll check with some of the locals I know that live down there and see what I can come up with . . . .

 

[CBulla]

Once you see a tarpon close up, you'll never forget it; I've had the encounter while both diving and beach swimming (watched them jump there).

Did the fish you saw look anything like these??

http://images.google.com/images?q=tarpon&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

 

[dlwalke]

Once you see a tarpon close up, you'll never forget it; I've had the encounter while both diving and beach swimming (watched them jump there).

Did the fish you saw look anything like these??

http://images.google.com/images?q=tarpon&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

Well, in terms of general body shape...yes. It was an unexpected and fleeting glimpse from afar, so I can't provide details. It was not all shiny and glittery like one might expect from a tarpon. Also, it did not twist as it launched from the water. The first time I saw it, it came out of the water at about a 30 degree angle. It's tail did not clear the water and it landed, again at about the same 30 degree angle. The second time, it came all the way out of the water and again, the trajectory in and out was about 30 degrees.

 

[wadeNC]

Some sort of Jack? Mackeral? There are all sorts of silvery sided game fish off the SE coast. I came across (or rather, it came across me) a 4-5' jack on a shallow wreck in NC and my wife nearly panicked thinking that a shark was coming straight for me. It looked at me, I looked at it and zip, it was gone.

Wade