A swordfish that paid a rare visit to the Firth of Forth last week is being targeted by fishermen who want it as a trophy.
On Friday Edinburgh Live shared a video of a ‘mysterious rare visitor’ to the Forth sighted off the coast of Portobello.
Experts believe this is only the third time a swordfish has been spotted in Scottish waters and crowds flocked to the beach over the weekend to catch a glimpse of its signature curved fin cutting through the waters of the Forth.
The majestic creature seems to have stuck around and was spotted in the Forth as recently as yesterday.
But taking pictures isn’t enough for some, rumours of the rare fish have drawn the attention of anglers who want to find and land it as a trophy.
Ornithologist Martin Scott told Edinburgh Live: “two guys came up to me at Portobello on Saturday and said their mate was serious about catching it, he is a big sea angler apparently.”
Another angler offered a bounty for the fish in a post on social media.
The man posted a message on the Mid and East Calder Community Facebook page, offering a reward for information leading to the animal’s capture.
Posting a picture of fishing rods he wrote: “Any one with accurate info on it get in touch, if your info leads to its capture a reward will be forth coming”.
Another person replied saying “I got it”.
The marine biologist who first shared the impressive footage of the swordfish, said the fish had brought much excitement and joy to locals and people would be disappointed if it was caught.
Katie O'Neil, who is also an admin of the Forth Marine Mammals Facebook Group said:
“We understand why a land like this would be impressive, but the swordfish has brought a lot of excitement and enjoyment to the local people, at such a dark time, I'm sure they'd be disappointed to see it caught.
“We'd love to think that it could be left free, to return in years to come, possibly even encouraging more to the area which would be a win for everyone.”
