Sportfishing photographer Bill Boyce captures the energy of a leaping bill fish.on Australia's Great Barrier Reef.(Photo: Bill Boyce, AP)
HONOLULU (AP) — A Hawaii man was killed Friday after he was apparently impaled by the bill of a fish, a Hawaii County fire official said.
Witnesses at Honokohau Harbor in Kailua-Kona reported that a man in his 40s jumped from the pier in an apparent attempt to catch a billfish, likely a short nose spear fish, West Hawaii Acting Battalion Chief John Whitman said.
"All we know is next thing they know, the man is seen floating," he said. Firefighters tried to resuscitate the man, who had a puncture wound to his right, upper torso. The man was taken to Kona Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Whitman said.
A witness told the fire department the man shot the fish with a spear gun. It's not clear what happened to the fish, which Whitman said was estimated to be about 30 pounds. That type of a fish has a bill that can be up to a foot long, he said.
He said police will investigate.
The man's identity has not been released. He's a Big Island resident who is in the charter boat business, Whitman said.
This isn't the first time he's heard of bill fish fatally impaling someone, Whitman said. "They are very aggressive animals," he said. "If you mess with them they defend themselves pretty good."
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