In an exciting development indicating an improvement in the health of the ocean off the Swanage Coast in Dorset, there’s been a confirmed sighting of a bluefin tuna – a fish which largely disappeared from UK waters in the 1950s.
In a first for Tom Greasty who runs Swanage Sea Fishing, a bluefin tuna measuring 175 centremetres or about 69 inches in length was hooked and then safely released, while out on a fishing trip near Swanage on Monday 21st September 2026.
Tom Greasty with his first bluefin tuna
Photographical evidence of bluefin tuna
Tom, who has a recreational licence for the catch and release of bluefin tuna, estimated that the fish weighed about 90 kilograms or 200 pounds.
The fish, which wasn’t removed from the sea, swam off strongly away from the boat, once it was carefully released.
Bluefin tuna used to be a common sight around the UK but overfishing led to a collapse in their numbers. Now with greater conservation protections in place and a warmer sea temperature along the South Coast sightings are becoming commonplace in Cornwall and Devon.
There have also been sightings off Weymouth in Dorset but this is one of the first, if not the first, confirmed bluefin tuna photographed in Swanage seas in recent times.
The fishing rod bends as it hooks the tuna
“A day I certainly won’t forget!”
Tom Greasty of Swanage Sea Fishing said:
“It was a massive day for me. I know the bluefin tuna fishing in Devon and Cornwall is amazing, but we finally hooked up our first tuna after so much effort, missed fish and lost fish.
“If someone had told me 10 years ago that one day I’d be fishing for bluefin tuna out of Swanage, I’d have laughed at them!
“What a journey it’s been to get here, and what an incredible feeling to finally see that first bluefin alongside the boat. It’s a real privilege to be part of the UK catch-and-release fishery. A day I certainly won’t forget!”
Increasing numbers of tuna are being spotted along the South Coast with this breaching tuna photographed off Berry Head in Devon by Ray Harrington of Devon Sea Safaris
Late summer and autumn visitor
The bluefin tuna feast on smaller fish like herring and sprat, so the sight of tuna off the shore of Swanage indicates that there is a plentiful supply of prey for it to eat, which is a good sign of a healthy sea.
Bluefin tuna is highly migratory, moving between feeding and spawning across the Atlantic and Mediterranean seas, so isn’t a permanent visitor to the South Coast.
The English Channel can become a productive feeding area in late summer and autumn, so it is no coincidence that the Swanage sighting was in September.
Further information
- More about Swanage Sea Fishing
