Watch: Large Dead Tuna Washes Onto Sliema Shore Near Swimmers
TW: This article contains mentions, photos and videos of a dead tuna
A large tuna fish – roughly two metres in length – has washed up on the coastal rocks along the Sliema front, close to Surfside, having been spotted on the water’s surface and pushed onto shore by a swimmer.
“A guy was swimming and knew how to deal with it,” said witnesses Ella Gauci Borda and Kateryna, who spoke to Lovin Malta, “so he got it up to shore”.
According to the witnesses, who saw the fish on shore at around 1.30pm today, the swimmer then called the authorities to inform them about the large fish he had brought to shore.
“It was around the size of an average guy, or a bit taller, maybe six foot.”
Those present on the scene estimated that the fish had been dead for about a week prior to washing up in Malta – though it is not clear how they reached this conclusion.
Certain sub-species of tuna – such as the Atlantic bluefin – can regularly grow to be the much larger than this one, growing up to 15 feet, or four and a half metres, weighing half a tonne.
Mediterranean tuna tend to be smaller, though they can still be impressively large – and their size can lead them into dangerous situations when they find themselves in shallow waters.
Recently, another tuna was spotted washed up near Pembroke.
Some have speculated that these fish must have escaped from fish farms, and been injured or disoriented, prior to washing up on shore – but the precise cause of their beachings cannot be definitively determined.
Have you ever seen a tuna up close?
READ NEXT: It’s Getting Hot In Here: Health Warning Issued, Here’s How To Stay Safe In Malta's Summer Weather
