White Marlin Pays A Visit To Jersey Shore Surf

OFF SEASIDE HEIGHTS, NJ — It's grown common to see whales and dolphins playing offshore along the Jersey coast during the summer.

On Sunday, fishermen casting in the surf saw a far more unusual visitor: a billfish, apparently a white marlin, that was cruising through the surf.

Grumpy's Tackle in Seaside Park shared videos of the billfish sent to it by customers on its Facebook page.

"Videos sent in on Instagram by @pelagic_plastics and @scottyvee_ of a marlin on the surf!" the tackle shop's post read.

White marlin typically inhabit much-deeper waters with surface temperatures above 70 degrees and are found off the coast of New Jersey in the summer when the water warms up sufficiently.

While they are found closer to the coast off Florida and the Carolinas, it's rare for them to be seen further inshore off New Jersey, as they often follow the Gulf Stream current.

White marlin — and their cousins, the hatchet marlin and the roundscale spearfish, which are frequently confused with the white marlin — are prized gamefish because of their aerial displays and hard fights when they are hooked. There are strict regulations and 99 percent of the marlin caught by anglers participating in marlin tournaments that are common in July and August in the area.

In the video below, the dorsal fin of the white marlin is just poking above the water. In the second video it's visible in the water near surfers.

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