Near the shores of Devon, England, Rupert Kirkwood found himself in for the ride of a lifetime while surrounded by feeding bluefin tuna, all caught on camera by wildlife filmmaker Henry Kirkwood, Rupert’s son.
Kayaking with big fish: how a love for the creatures of the ocean lead to a close encounter with leaping tuna
“If we see them it’s really going to be off-the-scale entertainment, hopefully, and if we don’t we’re going to have a nice day anyway,” said Rupert before the event.
Rupert, who goes by The Lone Kayaker on social media, has been surrounded by and studied animals his entire life. By kayak he has witnessed rarest, largest marine mammals including humpback whales, minke whales, Risso’s dolphins and even an ocean sunfish. In total, Rupert has kayaked an estimated 35,000 miles throughout the United Kingdom, both on rivers and along the coast. Together Rupert and Henry have been exploring the United Kingdom together to appreciate wildlife near their home.
The father-son duo had seen bluefin tuna here before in southwest England, but usually just a glimpse in the distance as they jumped out of the water. Upon arrival at the shore, seals, birds and other wildlife activity pointed to food in the water. Most especially promising was the presence of garfish, a thin, needle-like fish that bluefin tuna feed on. The presence of gar meant conditions were favorable for tuna sightings.
Bluefin tuna begin their lives as “nearly microscopic” eating a variety of prey in their lifetime before they grow into large, open ocean predators and graduate to gar. The maximum length for an eastern Atlantic bluefin tuna is 13 feet (four meters). Built like a torpedo, bluefin tuna can reach speeds of up to 43 miles per hour (70 kilometers per hour) – not exactly what you want coming out of the water toward you while you’re in a kayak!
Surrounded by feeding bluefin tuna
The father-son duo set up with Rupert on his kayak paddling out, while Henry hiked into the rocks down near the shore. They didn’t have to wait long for garfish to begin to skim across the surface of the water as if being chased. Shortly after, the first bluefin tuna surfaced close to shore.
Then, as Rupert turned to move towards Henry on shore, two bluefin tuna leapt out of the water behind him. From here, a feeding frenzy began as massive bluefin tuna began leaping out of the water around Rupert, sometimes as many as four or five at a time.
“I can’t believe he’s still on his kayak,” said Henry as a bluefin tuna leaped out of the water near Rupert. “How is he still in one piece?”
All around Rupert, bluefin tuna and gar filled the air while Rupert laughed, Henry checking in periodically to make sure he was okay.
“What a hoot,” said Rupert upon reaching shore later. “This is marine wildlife watching as good as anywhere in the world. Surely there can’t be a better experience in the entire world at this moment!”
Later, Rupert wrote in his blog about the experience stating, “Looking back on it, maybe it wasn’t a good idea to be sitting around in that particular location, with the risk of being hit by a 300 kg projectile flying at 30 mph. It would have been painful enough to be slapped in the chops by that lucky Garfish!”
