A man whose arm was "sliced open" by the sharp bill of a marlin which jumped into his boat north of Coffs Harbour remains in a stable condition in a Sydney hospital more than 24 hours after the freak incident.
The marlin, thought to have weighed up to 100 kilograms, breached and landed in the 46-year-old's boat off Wooli about midday on Thursday.
His older brother, 48, was also injured in the freak incident which occurred as their five-metre rigid-hull inflatable boat was speeding at 40km/h in the Solitary Islands Marine Park.
A third man on board, also aged 46, was not injured.
News Corp Australia on Friday reported the siblings were Quentin Peck and his older brother Nathan.
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"The marlin jumped straight over the boat and like a bowling ball just took us out," Nathan told the news organisation.
"We barely even saw the fish coming. I was driving, the bill went through my shoulder, when it got to my brother it was sideways, and he took the brunt of the 100kg fish.
"I thought my brother was near dead."
NSW Police on Thursday said the marlin's sharp snout "sliced open the younger brother's lower right arm causing an open fracture".
"The older brother suffered a deep cut to his right shoulder," a police spokesperson said, adding the marlin managed to escape "back into the water".
Quentin Peck was initially airlifted by the Westpac Rescue Helicopter to Coffs Harbour Base Hospital where he was assessed.
He was then transferred, again by air, to Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney where he remained in a stable condition on Friday afternoon.
His older brother Nathan was taken to the Coffs Harbour hospital by road and discharged on Thursday night.
