Watch as ‘super rare’ sea creature gives diver the ‘shock of a lifetime’ in Malaysia
Richard Swann’s social media is plastered with videos capturing his finds while scuba diving in Malaysia.
The managing director of a scuba diving center, Swann spends plenty of time underwater with the wildlife of Kota Kinabalu, according to his Facebook page. Recently, he went out on a dive with the hopes of finding something special.
“I selected the dive site as we have been witnessing lots of fish life in the location recently,” he wrote in an April 19 post. “I spent all my bottom time in the area of the most activity hoping something special would go by.”
That’s when something unusual did catch Swann’s eye. A 7-foot blue marlin was on the hunt, Swann said.
“I got the shock of a lifetime,” Swann wrote. “The usually very illusive and super rare creature circled me twice before disappearing into the blue!”
Swann said this was his first time capturing a blue marlin on camera.
“I was very fortunate to be able to get so close and to have camera in hand,” he wrote.
“That’s so amazing,” one person commented on Swann’s video.
“What an incredible experience,” another person said.
Kota Kinabalu is on Malaysia’s northwestern coast.
Blue marlins: ‘super fast predators’
Swann described the blue marlin he spotted as a “super fast predator.”
The fish are some of the fastest and biggest in the ocean, according to National Geographic. They have unique cobalt blue, silvery bodies and spear-like jaws.
Typically the fish live a life of solitude, keeping to the “warm surface waters” of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans, the outlet said. They can grow up to 14 feet long and can weigh up to nearly 2,000 pounds.
This story was originally published April 25, 2023 at 2:06 PM with the headline "Watch as ‘super rare’ sea creature gives diver the ‘shock of a lifetime’ in Malaysia."
