This native New Zealander chose a different route of getting up close and personal with this monster game fish.

When most of us dream of witnessing the raw power and pure energy of a striped marlin, we probably think of getting close to one by trolling (pronounced CHILL-in’) a carefully rigged spread behind a sportfisher in some tropical paradise.

Enter Nat Davey. This native New Zealander chose a different route of getting up close and personal with this monster game fish. Did it pay off? Why don’t you watch for yourself:

[h/t YouTube]

Exclusive head-cam footage gives a unique underwater perspective to this exhilarating experience. How thrilling was it? Well, as it turns out, Nat Davey landed a new spearfishing world record for striped marlin when he speared the 303.8 pound beast about 300 nautical miles off the shores of Australia in the South Pacific. Nothing was wasted as he later smoked the fish, providing food for many people.

Normally we are strong advocates of catch-and-release with billfish but if a great effort was made to use the meat, maybe it’s ok… What do you think?

Striped marlin have distinctive bluish-lavender vertical stripes which “light up” when they are excited. Maybe it’s like the same thing that happens to us when we flush red if we are angry!

In fact, striped marlin can actually reverse the pattern of their stripes from being dark stripes on lighter colored skin to lighter stripes on darker colored skin? Pretty amazing stuff!

[h/t Nathan Meadows via National Geographic]c