Should swimmers and surfers be worried?

AND A surfer died last week after being impaled by a fish off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, leaving surfers and swimmers wondering if the only thing they have to fear in the ocean is sharks.

According to various reports, 36-year-old Giulia Manfrini was surfing in the Mentawai Islands on the morning of October 18 when she was stung in the chest by a fish that may have been a swordfish or a needlefish. According to the Australian Broadcasting Corp, the resort where the incident occurred said it was a needlefish, while the Mentawai Islands Disaster Management Agency said it was a swordfish.

Injuries caused by these fish are rare, but not unheard of. There have been documented cases of serious injuries and fatalities after both types of fish struck people. Swordfish and needlefish can leap out of the water, and both have sharp beaks that can pierce the skin.

Both species can be found in oceans around the world. Swordfish live at medium depths, while needlefish live closer to the surface. AND the characteristic beak of a swordfish gives it its name and can grow to over 1,000 pounds and 170 inches in length. Commercially caught swordfish they are typically 50 to 200 pounds and 47 to 75 inches long.

Needleworts are smaller; the largest species in the family reaches approx 4 feet. They have a long and sharp beak, needle To.

How common are swordfish attacks?

Scientists have noted in journals and scientific articles that people have been injured and killed by spearmen and needlewomen before, but attacks are rare.

In 2015, a fisherman was killed in Hawaii when a speared swordfish struck him with its beak. The man, Randy Llanes, 47, jumped into the water with a speargun, Police he said.

Swordfish have also been known to pierce sharks with their beaks. In April 2020, researchers documented case a dead female thresher shark that washed up on the coast of Libya with part of a swordfish’s beak stuck in her body.

Sometimes they also hunt inanimate objects. In 2010, a swordfish attacked an oil pipeline in Angola, puncturing an oil loading pipe and delaying tanker shipments, Reuters reported.

How common are needle attacks?

Pinfish are much more common near the coast where surfers hang out, Jeanine Sepulveda, a marine biologist at MiraCosta College, told USA TODAY. Swordfish usually live in the open ocean, and although they come to the surface to bask, they usually stay away from the shore.

Piperfish can jump out of the water towards the lights at night. They can also jump when they sense predators or when there is a disturbance on the water surface, Brazilian researchers discovered. A 20-year-old surfer sought medical attention near São Paulo and found he had part of a needlefish jaw behind his ear.

Another surfer, who also surfed off the coast of an Indonesian island in December last year, was pricked under the arm by a needle and suffered a punctured lung, but survived, the publication reports Surfer reported.

As reported by the Bangkok Post in 2022, a tourist in Thailand was seriously injured when a needle stuck him in the neck while swimming. A few years earlier, a needle in the same area of Thailand killed a soldier, the newspaper reported.

“When I worked in Panama, we knew to stay away from (needles), especially if they were in the water at night, because sometimes they come out of the water, like a flying fish, and they can get you if they’re in a small boat, – said Sepulveda.

Contribution: Saleen Martin