EASTSOUND, Wash. — When SeaDoc Society wildlife veterinarian Joe Gaydos first got a call about a Pacific bluefin tuna spotted at Crescent Beach on Orcas Island, his initial reaction was awe.
"Sure enough, this giant tuna was sitting on the beach and it was so beautiful- with the sun coming up and the tuna sitting there, I was like, 'This is kind of surreal, what's going on?'" Gaydos said. "Just that morning there was a book being released, 'Fishes of the Salish Sea,' all 260 fishes- I thought, I don't think that fish is even in here."
He called researchers at the University of Washington's Friday Harbor Laboratories, who were also surprised to see the species so far north.
"He sent us a photo of this bluefin and we were all incredibly enthusiastic about it," Dr. Karly Cohen of the University of Florida said. "I've never seen a bluefin tuna up close and personal like that so it was really just a mindblowing experience and it felt unreal even as we were pulling up to the dock to this massive fish that had been placed on a gurney for us to put on a research vessel."
NOAA says in the United States, the fish are mostly found within 100 nautical miles of the California coast. Dr. Cohen says while there are some records of bluefin bones washed up in British Columbia, this is an unusual event.
"These are temperate species, they don't like our cold waters- so it's quite bizarre and rare that it showed up here," Dr. Cohen said.
Gaydos hopes the research will reveal new insights.
"We have to keep our eyes open all the time," Gaydos said. "We think we know a lot, but we have a lot more to learn about the ocean and the more we learn the better we can take care of it. As far as that fish goes, I want to know where it came from. I'd like to know, what was it eating? Was it eating squid when it was in here? Is there a reason it was here? Is it a good sign that it's a good sign for this place or a bad sign that it's a problem? I'm dying to know what they find in the necropsy."