Snub Nosed Sailfish

It's been a week since moving from sunny Florida for a two year stint in snowy Ottawa, Canada for work and I've yet to get out to do any photography so I decided to share this shot of a very unusual Sailfish from a much warmer and sunnier climate. Sailfish being billfish are supposed to have long, pointy noses but this fellow we caught last month in Guatemala was missing his. They use their bills to stun prey and assist with streamlining, making them the fastest fish in the sea in a sprint. The handicap didn't seem to bother this one at all as he was otherwise healthy and put on a spectacular show. He even "lit up" the entire fight whereas sailfish normally bronze up as they tire; much like people get red faced when they exert themselves.

I would have preferred a water level view but I had decided to spend a few hours in the fly bridge to try to get a shot of one swimming into the trolling spread when this one hit. This is a vertical crop of about 75% of original so if anyone things a horizontal view would work better, please let me know. As always, I really appreciate the feedback and comments so please keep them coming. Thanks so much for for looking!

Canon EOS40D, 100-400L IS @ 100mm, F 5.6, 1/1,600, ISO 500