We all know, love, and sometimes fear sharks for their predatory nature; however, we never really feat a swordfish. We tend to be in wonder and ah when with see this fish in the wild. Maybe it is because we only see them when they are being caught by recreational fishermen when they go deep-sea fishing. Swordfish are predators and they are quite effective predators with their unique bill. 

Swordfish swim actively around their prey, which forms a "bait ball" by grouping in a ball swimming close together in the same direction in a massive ball. The swordfish jet around the bait ball at high speeds. They use their "sword", or bill, to hit a few fish out of the ball separating them from the school and stunning them. They gobble the fish up and do the process over and over until they had their fill or the entire school is gone. Scientists thought the manner in which the swordfish, and other billfish, used their bills was pretty much the only way they use it. They were wrong. 

Sharks have been washing up on beaches along the Mediterranean coastline dead with the tips of swordfishes' bills in their head or in their backs. Researchers are trying to figure out why swordfish are impaling the predator as a broken bill does not grow back. 

More research needs to be conducted to understand why swordfish are behaving in the manner. Are adults warding off attacks from predators competing for bait balls? Are juveniles impaling sharks because their bills are still growing? these are the questions being asked by researchers to get more insight. 

Why do you think this is happening?

Link To Article:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/27/science/swordfish-stabbing-sharks.html

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