A Marlin Strikes Back: Fisherman impaled by giant fish

Awesome story. Glad the guy lived, but I have to say he had it coming. I don't think this was a random accident. Fish feel pain and even a little goldfish has a memory span of up to 3 months.? If you accept the research that says some fish are smarter than dogs, then it is not hard to imagine that this marlin (which might be up to 20 years old) purposefully attacked to protect his/her friends and/or family.

A FISHERMAN is recovering after being impaled on the bill of a 14ft blue marlin that leapt over his boat during an international angling tournament off Bermuda.

The 800lb (360kg) fish hit Ian Card with such force that its 3ft spear went through his chest just below his collarbone and knocked him into the sea. As the fish dived, forcing Mr Card under water, he was able to push himself off the razor-sharp bill and swim to the surface.

?It impaled him with its bill. In one motion, the fish flew across the cockpit and took him out of the boat. He landed about 15ft away. He was under water and had his arms wrapped round the fish as it was pushing him under.

?I lost sight of him for a few seconds. As a father looking at a son who has just been impaled, that is a sight I will never forget.? Mr Card, 32, surfaced 50ft behind the boat with blood pouring from a ?fist-sized? wound in his chest. Dennis Benevides, a family friend who was on the boat, called the emergency services and stuffed a towel into the wound to stem the flow of blood.

Mr Card was operated on at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital in Bermuda, where doctors said he would have died had the bill struck him a few centimetres on either side. ...? The Cards are among the most experienced marlin fishermen in the world. They were the first to hook a marlin weighing more than 1,000lb in Bermudian waters. Alan Card has hooked six of the ten largest blue marlin caught off the island. - timesonline