Sailfish diving/snorkeling - is it safe?

[heehee62]

Has anyone gone or know of the sailfish snorkeling/diving offered near Holbox? Do you guys know how safe it is?

I'd like to go but I'm afraid sailfish with their swordlike noses chasing sardine bait balls that just might swim over me might not be the safest thing in the world.

Thanks.

 

[vladimir]

A group of divers on a Thai liveaboard jumped into the dinghy to intercept a pod of false killer whales. They dropped into the water in the path of the whales, which were hunting sailfish.

This excerpt from Undercurrent picks up the story:

Mustering all his remaining energy, the sailfish barely managed to evade the open mouth of the killer that was toying with him. I wondered what it would be like to see, first hand, his pursuer rip a chunk out of him. He turned sharply, just in front of me. I snapped a picture, looked at the long bill, and suddenly wondered: did the sailfish regard me as another threat?
I didn’t get a chance to find out. I was ordered to leave the water. On the other side of the boat, other humans were involved in their own life- and-death struggle. A woman in our group had slipped into the water to watch and take pictures. One of the sailfish must have felt threatened by her; he turned and charged. She could do little but ball up to protect her torso. The sailfish’s bill entered the underside of her calf, went all the way through her leg, and penetrated her abdomen, perforating her colon.
Now we were in a race against the clock to get her to a hospital before peritonitis set in. Thanks to the quick actions of Mark and Suzanne and their crew, as well as the Fantasea’s owner, we were able to get her to the hospital in Phuket in time for emergency surgery. She has since completely recovered, with just a few scars and a hell of a story to show for her ordeal.

I relate the story to point out that anytime you are among large wild animals, especially ones that are feeding, there is at least some risk. It would not be enough to deter me, however, from the dive you described. Not on the face of it, anyway, based on what you've told us.

 

[smellzlikefish]

Cool story, vlad! I've only encountered billfish irregularly (saw an Indo-Pacific sailfish last week), but while they seem to have control over their bill, the moral of Vlad's story rings true. Pic attached, sorry for the bad color rendering, I suck at Photoshop.

 

[Mike]

Getting in the water with sail fish is so new that there is little data to go by. There is a professional photographer who has published pictures of up close and personal with sail fish feeding on bait balls, this is the only published photos I've seen of it.

Video here | Scuba Diving Magazine

When I was in Isla Mujeres I hired a private boat and captain to go out for sail fish and if conditions were right to get in the water with them. Conditions didn't work out so I have no personal story yet. As you can see this is a very ellusive experience to have.

I believe there is one commercial outfit that advertises sail fish diving, you can google for them. I believe they are a live-a-board of some type and the trips run close to $10,000

Sailfish Adventure | Big Animals

 

[heehee62]

Thanks everyone for the responses, especially you Vlad. That story was terrifying.

Oh and I think that previous poster may be right. I myself couldn't find any dive trips with the sailfish but found a few companies advertising snorkel trips with them for not all that much money if someone else ( not me anymore) still wants to try this.

 

[DandyDon]

I've never heard of sailfish snorkeling near Holbox?

Edit: Ok, I found it. Sounds like they hope to find sailfish sometime over three days...?
http://www.ecodivingtours.com/tours/sailfish-snorkel.html

 

[danvolker]

We will be doing Sailfish dives in Palm Beach this year....With the assistance of Jim Abernethy and aerial spotting, we will be taking advantage of the very large population of Sailfish we have off of Palm Beach.
There are also Baitball dives, and sometimes you can get both baitballs and sailfish

As to the danger....this is a "new" activity for divers. I don't expect to have the sailfish see us as a threat, but I think with any large marine life, the diver needs to watch the body language of the large marine animal, and figure out whether the diver presence is causing any kind of defensive or territorial response. Even bottlenose dolphin can become very annoyed by divers if they come to close--and when this occurs, there is extreme twisting of their bodies, and it is fairly obvious to a diver paying attention, that the dolphin is annoyed and warning you off.

Virtually all marine life uses body language--and reads it in other marine life.

 

[Mike]

I'm just wondering of the threat is more one of accidental skewering, rather than intentional. My fears weren't ever of the sail fish becoming aggressive. My thoughts were the dangers lie in the speed involved of both the bait ball fish and the sail fish, with the bait ball making moves quickly, too quickly for anyone in the water to react to, such as the bait ball suddenly enveloping the person in the water and the sail fish doing it's natural thing and you suddenly being in the accidental path of it's bill.

 

[Dirty-Dog]

So the REAL question is: Which would be the better choice for a bill fish dive, a katana or rapier? I lean towards the rapier for this application, personally.

 

[danvolker]

I'll be shooting video with canon 5D on top of a big Gavin Scooter...the scooter could make an awesome "shield"