Tens of thousands of fish jump out of water and onto a fisherman’s boat in Taiwan

A fisherman was shocked to have witnessed tens of thousands of sardines leaping out of water and onto his boat in a northern Taiwan port city. 

Fisherman Lu Jingwai, 31, who described the sea was like ‘boiling water’, filmed the moment when he was his friends were cleaning the boat at midnight on July 20. 

It’s said the shoal of sardines were being chased by some barracudas, a species of fish that prey on smaller fishes.

The scene was filmed by Mr Lu who were cleaning his fishing boat with his friends on July 20 (left). Thousands of fish jump onto his boat and struggle to breathe on land (right)

Footage posted on Mr Lu’s Facebook shows thousands of small, shiny sardines jumping on the sea surface at the same time at Bisha fishing port in Keelung, Taipei city.

‘It’s so scary! I got attacked by the fish!’ Mr Lu can be heard screaming in the video. 

Mr Lu and his friends were seen picking up the fish and put them back in the waters. 

He told MailOnline that the fish sensed a threat and jumped out of water to avoid being eaten by other fishes.

‘I’ve seen three to five barracudas, over a metre long (3.3ft), swimming under my boat two days ago. I guess it’s their hunting period these few days,’ said Mr Lu.

Mr Lu believed that the sardines were avoiding to get eaten by larger fish species, barracudas

‘I got attacked by the fish!’ Mr Lu was shocked to see his boat rocked by the shoal of sardines. He and his friends helped to place the fish back into the sea.

According to SETN.com, there were members of public reported sightings of barracudas near the fishing port.

Web users commented on Mr Lu’s video that ‘the scene was mesmerising’ and one said it’s ‘unbelievable to see that much of fish jumping out of water’.

‘Nick Chang’ said: ‘It’s the best time to fish when the big fish were feasting on them.’