Scubaism

An almaco jack seems to have travelled over 4,000 miles and ended up in Cornwall. It was snared by fisherman Phil Trebilcock off Crantock and taken to the Blue Reef Aquarium in Newquay. David Waines from the Blue Reef Aquarium thinks it hitched a ride on a ship or simply got lost.

“No one is entirely sure why a fish that is normally native to tropical waters should have been discovered just offshore. There is an outside chance that it could have been carried over in the ballast tanks of a large vessel.

“But I suppose the most likely reason is that it simply got lost and somehow ended up thousands of miles off course.

“Sea temperatures around Cornwall peak at around this time of year at 16C-17C so it is possible for warmer water species to survive.

“However, in winter they drop back by 10C-12C and therefore exotic fish only have a small window of opportunity to survive.”