RIVIERA BEACH, Fla. — Alyssa Ave was snorkeling with some friends last weekend under the Blue Heron Bridge.
"So, we got in around 9 that morning. The water visibility was like 30, 40 feet, it was gorgeous," she said. "A lot of eagle rays were out, fish and we saw almost everything. But we weren't expecting to see a sailfish."
She said at first she was startled. "I went up and took my mask off, and I started telling there was a sailfish but I wanted somebody to see because I thought I was going crazy," Ave said. "And I said 'look down, look down.' And she looked and said 'oh,' in her snorkel. There were divers below us and they started pointing."
Conservationist Jim Abernethy weighed in on the sailfish captured on video.
"I saw the amazing footage of the sailfish definitely at the Blue Heron Bridge and was quite blown away," Abernethy said. "Having been diving there for 50 years, I've never seen a sailfish there. I'm guessing with the bait fish that are offshore, it got sucked in the Inlet at high tide because that was at high tide when the water is nice and clear."
As for Ave and her friends, she says they can't wait to go snorkeling again.