We usually see these as large schools around some Kwajalein Atoll lagoon pinnacles. A large school has been quite persistent around a pinnacle locally called Troy's Coralhead for at least 20 years, although for at least one period of a few months, they seemed to move to another pinnacle a few kilometers away before returning to Troy's.
Troy's coralhead is a popular dive site at Kwajalein because the persistent school of scad attract a resident group of gray reef sharks (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos) that patrol the school, looking for inattentive fish they can grab. The sharks are far more interested in watching the fish than paying attention to divers.
On 19 September 2013, a large school became stranded in a shallow channel at the northeast end of Kwajalein Island. This was quickly noticed by some Marshallese workers on the island, who quickly gathered their nets and made a killing during the short period while the fish were trapped. Fortunately for the fish, the tide quickly came up and most of them escaped the nets and got across the reef.
Created 2 January 2018