[NatureNS] Large Sword-like fish (?) beached in Cape Breton: I.D. Assistance requested

From: "bernard burke" <blburke@ns.sympatico.ca>
To: <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>
Date: Sun, 9 Aug 2009 21:52:36 -0300
Precedence: bulk
Return-Path: <naturens-mml-owner@chebucto.ns.ca>
Original-Recipient: rfc822;"| (cd /csuite/info/Environment/FNSN/MList; /csuite/lib/arch2html)"

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All

I just returned from a quick visit to River Bourgeois, Cape Breton and =
while visiting relatives, a neighbor of theirs dropped by and mentioned =
that there was a porpoise beached on the shore below his home. After =
walking the short distance over and taking a look at the individual =
myself, I realized that although the neighbors intentions were good, I =
felt quite certain that the beached animal more closely resembled a =
Swordfish. Upon returning to Dartmouth I looked in both my saltwater =
fish guide books and the closest illustration in both books I felt was =
in fact the Swordfish. My trouble with my I.D. is that the "sword" =
portion of the head looks much shorter then the illustrations in my =
guide books. As best as we could tell, the bill did not appear to be =
shortened, although the carcass has appeared to have sustained some =
damage by scavengers on the eyes and other locations on the body. If =
anyone with more knowledge of our larger coastal fishes can assist with =
the identification, it would be greatly appreciated. The aproximate =
length of this fish would be ten feet from the tip of its "sword" to the =
end of its tail. Here are some photos:

http://bernieb.smugmug.com/gallery/916397_ynXPk/16/615403828_Hhk7b/Medium=


http://bernieb.smugmug.com/gallery/916397_ynXPk/16/615423229_DGCQN/Medium=


http://bernieb.smugmug.com/gallery/916397_ynXPk/16/615404354_RsojR/Medium=


http://bernieb.smugmug.com/gallery/916397_ynXPk/16/615404925_dEnhZ/Medium=


Bernard Burke
blburke@ns.sympatico.ca
Dartmouth
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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=3DContent-Type content=3D"text/html; =
charset=3Diso-8859-1">
<META content=3D"MSHTML 6.00.2900.3059" name=3DGENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
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<BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>All</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>I just returned from a quick visit to =
River=20
Bourgeois, Cape Breton and while visiting relatives, a neighbor of =
theirs=20
dropped by and mentioned that there was a porpoise beached on the shore =
below=20
his home. After walking the short distance over and taking a look at the =

individual myself, I realized that although the neighbors intentions =
were good,=20
I felt quite certain that the beached animal more closely resembled a =
Swordfish.=20
Upon returning to Dartmouth I looked in both my saltwater fish guide =
books and=20
the closest illustration in both books I felt was in fact the Swordfish. =
My=20
trouble with my I.D. is that the "sword" portion of the head looks much =
shorter=20
then the illustrations in&nbsp;my&nbsp;guide books. As best as we could =
tell,=20
the bill did not appear to be shortened, although the carcass has =
appeared to=20
have sustained some damage by scavengers on the eyes and other locations =
on the=20
body.&nbsp;If anyone with more knowledge of our larger coastal fishes =
can assist=20
with the identification, it would be greatly appreciated. The aproximate =
length=20
of this fish would be ten feet from the tip of its "sword" to the end of =
its=20
tail.&nbsp;Here are some&nbsp;photos:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2><A=20
href=3D"http://bernieb.smugmug.com/gallery/916397_ynXPk/16/615403828_Hhk7=
b/Medium">http://bernieb.smugmug.com/gallery/916397_ynXPk/16/615403828_Hh=
k7b/Medium</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2><A=20
href=3D"http://bernieb.smugmug.com/gallery/916397_ynXPk/16/615423229_DGCQ=
N/Medium">http://bernieb.smugmug.com/gallery/916397_ynXPk/16/615423229_DG=
CQN/Medium</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2><A=20
href=3D"http://bernieb.smugmug.com/gallery/916397_ynXPk/16/615404354_Rsoj=
R/Medium">http://bernieb.smugmug.com/gallery/916397_ynXPk/16/615404354_Rs=
ojR/Medium</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2><A=20
href=3D"http://bernieb.smugmug.com/gallery/916397_ynXPk/16/615404925_dEnh=
Z/Medium">http://bernieb.smugmug.com/gallery/916397_ynXPk/16/615404925_dE=
nhZ/Medium</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Bernard Burke</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2><A=20
href=3D"mailto:blburke@ns.sympatico.ca">blburke@ns.sympatico.ca</A></FONT=
></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Dartmouth</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>

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