The Great Marlin Race

Last week marked the end of the 120-day deployment period for two of the last three tags still in the water.  On December 10, right on schedule, the tag from Fish 8 popped up - about 10 miles off the coast of the Hawaiian Island of Lanai!  This 225-lb. marlin was the larges fish in the 2010 Great Marlin Race, caught by angler Kazuaya Kaneko fishing on the Game Plan and tagged by Captain Guy Terwilliger.  Unfortunately for Dan Holt, the tag's sponsor, and the Out of the Blue Fishing Club, the tag came up only 102 nautical miles from where it was deployed - putting them in second-to-last place.

Updated map showing pop-up locations for the first eight tags.  Click here to see the interactive map.

Scientifically, however, this isn't bad news.  Preliminary data transmitted from the tag show that the marlin remained in the vicinity of Hawaii for the duration of the race - but it continued to make regular dives just like the marlin that traveled further afield.  This reminds us that there may be a wide variety of migratory behaviors exhibited by individual fish - including extended periods of residency in a relatively small area.

That leaves us with two tags still to report.  One of them, deployed on Fish 7, is now several days behind schedule - and with each passing day, it becomes less likely that we'll hear from it.  The tag from Fish 9 is due up in the next couple of days, however, so we'll be keeping our eyes open for it.