Boat Captain killed by swordfish impalement
 

Same thing happened to a fisherman in Hawaii when I was stationed there except it was a marlin that killed him. Billfish can be dangerous.

Yup, several species in the ocean can be very dangerous but billfish themselves can be very unpredictable when they start tail walking close to the boat. Bring a green cobia in the boat and your looking for trouble.

I know a guy in Delaware who was fishing out of Indian River out of a 23 ft cuddy cabin boat and caught a Mako. It jumped in the boat and had he and his girl friend and another couple trapped in the cuddy cabin till it was almost dead. It wiped out two pedastol chairs, broke rods and generally trashed the cockpit.

Oh, yeah a fresh Mako would cause me to jump out of the boat. Cobia have done the same thing, seen several center consoles destroyed by them including legs and ankles broken by how much strength they posses.

It was a small Striped marlin, not a Swordfish as widely reported. Billfish regardless of their size can mete out some damage. I once had a new pair of Xtra-tuffs ruined by a Shortbilled spearfish. It ripped the instep of my right boot and poked over .5" into the "meat".

Other times I've seen big tunas break deck boards with their tails.
Simple warning...pelagic (open ocean) fish are STRONG!

Is the guy any less dead?

Billfishing is no joke