A fisherman was killed Friday in Hawaii after a swordfish he had just speared punctured him in his chest.
The Kona boat captain, identified by NBC affiliate KHNL as 47-year-old Randy Llanes, spotted the young broadbill swordfish swimming in Honokohau harbor on Hawaii Island just before 11 a.m. local time.
He shot the fish with his spear gun and jumped into the water to retrieve it. The fish then started thrashing around and impaled him in the upper chest with its bill, according to boating and ocean recreation officials.
The swordfish was about 40 pounds and 3 feet long, with a bill length of about 3 feet, officials told the station. Fishermen pulled Llanes out of the water after the freak accident and CPR was attempted, but he was declared dead at a nearby hospital.
Swordfish are usually found in the open ocean and are not normally spotted in the Honokohau harbor, KHNL reported. One of Llanes' crew members, surprised by the sighting, captured video of the swordfish before Llanes dove in.
Llanes was born and raised in Hawaii and had more than 25 years of fishing experience, he said on his company website.
"Hawaii is one of those rare places where sea monsters still exist and world records can still be broken," he wrote online.
