There's something odd about pictures of people posing with giant fish. Something downright strange and otherworldly. Join us on our journey to the four corners of the globe in search of huge exotic sea creatures. Feel free to leave your comments or submit pictures using the information in the lower right.
OK, things didn't go that wrong, but I certainly wouldn't want something like this to happen to me. Imagine you're just innocently deep sea fishing when this happens. And, no, I'm not going to tell you what happens, you'll have to watch it yourself.
Disclaimer: while this site normally concentrates on fish posing with people, in this case we've received a special dispensation.
Not all of these are photos of the Wels catfish (Weller, Silurus glanis), a ginormous beastie mostly found in Europe and famously in the Ebro River in Spain. And, the soundtrack is some wimpy pop tune rather than the folk metal that most experts agree fits in more with the fishes' mood. And, none of the pictures involve noodling. That... Read more...
This video shows a German posing with his friend and business associate, the alleged world record common carp. I say alleged because the video is four years old (3.5 years in carp years) and someone else claims to have caught a larger carp. However, whether they're referring to the same subspecies isn't clear. Rather than quibbling, I suggest just enjoying... Read more... (0)
Here's a slideshow video featuring several photographs of giant squids posing with humans. Or, the other way around if you prefer. Now, you might wonder why the guy in the orange safety vest is lying down next to one of the gigantic beasties, and you might really wonder why a group of people are in what looks like a hot... Read more...
A world record stingray - weighing a massive 771 pounds and measuring 7' in diameter with a 10' tail - was recently spotted in Thailand posing with freshwater biologist boffin Ian Welch and his pals (link, link, link). The stingray initially resisted the posing, even going as far as dragging Welch across his boat. He (Welch) was there to tag... Read more...
The "barreleye" fish (Macropinna microstoma) is one of the stranger creatures you're going to see this week. The two spots above its mouth are not eyes but are the equivalent of nostrils. Its eyes are the large green objects inside its translucent head. The video was actually shot in 2004 by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (link) but was... Read more...
There are a lot of ice fishing videos available online, for everything from walleye to muskie to pike and beyond. However, once per decade, a video comes along that blows them all away and earns the coveted Fishosaur "Two Fins Up, Way Up" award. And, "Pike 13.4 kgs( 29 lbs 9 oz)" is that video. Don't let its prosaic name... Read more...
A new seafood "chef" has been located: a female bottlenose dolphin off the Australian coast meticulously followed a procedure to remove the bones and ink from cuttlefish (link). Scientists speculate that this "recipe" might be passed down through generations. I speculate that one day the dolphins will rise up out of the seas and challenge our hegemony. Meanwhile, you're asking,... Read more...
This site is torn. Fish are food. At the same time, fish are sea kittens. So, please don't tell PETA that I'm linking to the following video of a 345 pound world-record marlin being taken (that's a euphemism) off the coast of New Zealand a couple years ago. The mur... I mean, the spear fisherman was Dave Mullins, and he... Read more...
PETA's latest desperate cry for attention is their attempt to rename fish "sea kittens". No, really: link. What were they thinking? Were they thinking? Some attention is completely counter-productive, and this wacky plan is the very definition. Despite what they think, I'm not about to change the name of this site to SeaKittenOSaur.com, but I was able to locate some... Read more...
Gigantic Fish Researcher and Master Biologist Zeb Hogan is back! This time, he's got video of humongous trout in Mongolia. You're going to need to bring an industrial size skillet to fry up these bad boys! Of course, you shouldn't do that because, due to global cooling they're an endangered species. So, do as Zeb does and simply steer them... Read more...
You're going to need to turn your head sideways for this unfortunate picture [actually, this is another picture, the original one disappeared]: That's an ocean sunfish, also known as Mola Mola, of the order tetraodontiformes. That picture was taken near Zamboanga City in the Philippines. These beasties can reach a ton and are most likely the largest bony fish in... Read more...
Did political enemies of former National Hurricane Center director Max Mayfield "snitch" on him? That is the frightening possibility that first crossed my mind when learning that he was being investigated by the National Marine Fisheries Service, which is part of NOAA (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration). The NHC is also part of that agency. It happened like this: The... Read more...
At first glance, you might ask, "Why is Miss Vietnam Mai Phuong Thuy carrying a fish?" At second glance, you might ask, "What is she doing with her hand? Is she, you know, carrying something else? Is the Miss a former Mr.?" I urge you to purge all such thoughts from your mind and enjoy the spectacle of a... Read more...
Courtesy of the Awashima Marine Park (via CNN, via some guy video taping his TV) comes this video of a "frilled shark", a rarely seen species known as Chlamydoselachus anguineus. AP report here. They normally live thousands of feet beneath the waves, and they've changed little over time and are thus sometimes supposedly called a "living fossil". The one in... Read more...
Blimey: almost three minutes of odd entertainment are on tap as a group of English persons move, fondle, probe, and otherwise prepare a giant squid to go on display at Britain's Natural History Museum. As described on their page, the beastie in question is an Architeuthis dux, and it's 8.62 metres long (about 28 feet). The animal is originally from... Read more...
Welcome to the winner of the 2006 "Make up your own joke" competition! In this photo, Paris Hilton is shown posing with a huge tuna fish and a cellphone at the Tsukiji Honganji Temple in Tokyo on December 22, 2006. Hilton and the fish were brought in by NTT DoCoMo and Motorola for the launch of their new FOMA M702iS... Read more...
Here's video of a huge catfish being reeled in: There's no word on where the vidoe was shot, who was involved, or anything else. They seem to have British accents, but they don't look like the three who caught a Wels catfish in Spain.... Read more...
Normally this site only features big fishes that are undeniably real. But, I'm expanding the charter a bit here to ask a question about the story "Giant swordfish netted" from England's Sun newspaper. Does anyone believe that this is a real photo of a swordfish caught off Northumberland in the North Sea? Does anyone who believes that that's not either... Read more...
A couple weeks ago Senator Lisa Murkowski and some close friends participated in the 11th annual Kenai River Classic, a fundraiser for that river in Alaska. It raised $800,000. The largest fish was a 67-pound King Salmon, caught by a vice-president of British Petroleum. However, the only picture we have available is that of plucky Lisa, whose catch weighed... Read more...
One day you're a huge tuna swimming pacifically in the sea. The next moment, you're sushi. Well, not quite. In between there are a few intervening steps, as the following video shows. Warning: do not watch this video if you do not have a strong constitution. No, really. Watch this one instead.... Read more...
The world's smallest fish has been located living in an acidic peat swamp on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. It has been termed the "Paedocypris progenetica" and is a member of the carp family. Despite being only .31 inches (7.9 millimeters), the males have "exceptionally large muscles" and "enlarged pelvic fins". Boffins speculate these are used for the... Read more...
Driven by the hand of man - including the dreaded Global Warming - and carried by ocean currents, monstrous jellyfish weighing up to over 400 pounds and with a diameter of over six feet are invading the Pacific side of Japan, Asahi reports. The squiggly beasts - named Echizen kurage or Nomura's jellyfish and a very distant relative of... Read more...
In a case that has received worldwide attention, including statements from president Bush, Kofi and Kojo Annan of the United Nations, the Pope, as well as a worldwide television special featuring Bono, the 12 pound lobster which was recently caught off the coast of Massachusetts has been spared and will not become dinner, NBC10 reports. Video at the link.... Read more...
Pictured above is New Zealand commercial fisherman Warwick Harris posing with the jaws of a massive Great White Shark that got caught in his nets off the Waikato coast. It was 15 feet long and weighed in at 3300 pounds. The remainder of the shark is with scientists who are investigating the matter. Harris was fishing for snapper and... Read more...
Giant squid researcher Tsunemi Kubodera from Tokyo, Japan's National Science Museum as well as Kyoichi Mori of the Ogasawara Whale Watching Association have captured the first pictures of a live squid. All previous pics of these mysterious beasts have been of ones that washed ashore or were otherwise non-functioning. They captured more than 500 images using a baited hook.... Read more...
Shown above, an unknown fisherman gazes at a paddlefish he caught in West Virginia, Paul Bender of WCHS TV reports. Due to dam construction and pollution, paddlefish almost disappeared from West Virginia waters, but due to aggressive hatchery work they're on the rebound. At the moment in that state you have to throw them back. However, you are still... Read more...
Pictured above are 15 year old Sara Hayward and siblings, crowding around a Wahoo that Sara caught off Cabo San Lucas, Baja California, Mexico. The fish weighs a whopping 184 pounds. That's not just 30 pounds more than the record, that's 50 pounds more than she herself weighs. Let's join Minerva Saenz of Minerva's Baja Tackle on this gripping... Read more...
The picture of the giant catfish that Duncan Rooke (left) and Stephen Buss caught near Barcelona, Spain on July 6 2005 has finally been released. No, that's not a fake. (Same pic here). The female catfish weighed a whopping 212 pounds (96 kg, 15 stone) and was 7'7" long (2.3 m). Rooke, Buss, and their new friend are pictured... Read more...
(If you're under 18 or have a weak constitution, click here now.) GIANT SQUIDS ARE CANNIBALS! Sea behemoth researchers in Australia have revealed the shocking truth behind these monsters of the deep: they eat their own kind. New Scientist reveals in Gruesome habits of the giant squid that an analysis of the stomach contents of Architeuthis dux shows disturbing... Read more...
As near as I can figure out from their web site, the Hakkeijima Sea Paradise in Yokohama outside of Tokyo employs trained Beluga whales as greeters at their fun ocean park, much the same as America's own Wal*Mart does, except with sea creatures instead of humans. Shown above is one of their "Sea Ambassadors" singing to a visitor in... Read more...
Pictured to the right is actually a small Tiger Shark, weighing in at a mere 1100 pounds. It was caught off Martha's Vineyard during the Boston Big Game Fishing Club's 19th Annual Monster Shark event. Report here. As noted, this little shark was disqualified because they got back to Oak Bluffs harbor 6 minutes late. Despite the fact that... Read more...
Caught on video! A giant black marlin leapt out of the sea and smacked 18-year-old fisherman Stephen Schultz in the face, breaking his nose in several places and causing other lacerations. The fish was not caught. At the time of the attack, Schultz and family were on vacation in Panama, the marlin was on the end of a line,... Read more...
WPVI reports (with video) that on July 9, 2005 Dan Dillon caught an 873-pound bluefin tuna near Bethany Beach in Delaware. He was visiting from Herndon VA. Dillon now has a problem that many of us would love to have: what to do with all that fish. Because he doesn't have a federal license to sell the meat, he's... Read more...
Pictured above is the fish that holds the world's record for largest freshwater fish, a whopping 646 pounds. Specifically, it's a Mekong giant catfish. Giant fish researchers - led by Zeb Hogan of the WWF and University of Wisconson - tried to save it so it could spawn yet again, but it died and was consumed by hungry villagers.... Read more...
Above we see Tim Pruitt from Alton, Illinois with a 124-pound blue catfish he caught on the mighty Mississippi. The International Game Fish Association will reportedly certify it as a world record for the state and other classifications. Stats: 58" long, 44" around... Read more...
Pictured to the right is one of the kings of huge piscatorial creatures, the Mekong giant catfish (Pangasianodon gigas). It can get up to 10' long and weigh as much as 660 pounds. As the AP reported, these are now a critically endangered species.... Read more...
There's something odd about pictures of people posing with giant fish. Something downright strange and otherworldly. Join us on our journey to the four corners of the globe in search of huge exotic sea creatures. Feel free to leave your comments or submit pictures using the information in the lower right.
West Coast :: When deep sea fishing goes horribly wrong
