Experts have made a rare sighting of a swordfish in the North Sea at what will become the largest wind farm in Scotland.
It is thought to be only the “second ever” sighting of the species in Scottish waters, caught on camera thanks to a wildlife survey at SSE Renewables’ Seagreen wind farm site around 17 miles off Inverbervie.
HiDef Aerial Surveying spotted the “highly migratory” six-and-a-half-foot fish, which is usually seen in the warmer waters of the Mediterranean or Caribbean.
After capturing the footage in August, the sighting has now been ratified by experts.
Jim Ellis from the centre for environment, fisheries and aquaculture science said: “The distance from the tip of the bill to the origin of the first dorsal fin is a high proportion of the fork length. Marlins have a proportionally shorter bill.”
Meanwhile, Walter Golet, from Maine University’s School of Marine Science, added: “Swordfish have a huge latitudinal range and, by the picture, it appears to have a flat bill, and marlins (the only other confusion species) are all round.”
Seagreen Offshore Wind Farm is expected to have a £6bn lifetime investment and could bring thousands of jobs to the area during the construction phase.
The project, which will include up to 114 turbines, aims to deliver enough power for a million homes each year
In 2016, another swordfish was sighted at the Mull of Galloway, Scotland’s most southerly point.
