Swimmers will be happy to learn a barracuda attack in the middle of the day is unlikely near shore, a new study looking at the habits of the ferocious fish has found.

Barracudas tend to move offshore during the day and return to shore habitats around dusk, Carleton University masters student Amanda O'Toole has found.

"That's good news for daytime swimmers," O'Toole said in a release about her masters thesis, which looked at the fish in the Bahamas.

One of O'Toole's advisors said her thesis has shed light on the fish.

“Strangely, there is very little known about barracuda biology despite the fact that they are widely regarded as important predators in tropical marine waters,” Steven Cooke said.

The Ottawa student found most barracudas are "homebodies" and they stay close to a particular area — in her case, where she was able to tag them. But they can move on, as one fish she tagged in 2007 was found more than 100 kms from where it was originally tagged.

Most anglers who catch a barracuda will return it to the water, and O'Toole's thesis also found the fish do well after they've been reeled in.

“We found that all fish that were landed survived the angling experience and were vigorous at the time of their release. But several barracuda were attacked by other predators while they were being reeled in," she said.

O'Toole said she hopes her study will be an important first step in managing and conserving these fish.

“These are fascinating fish that deserve a better future than following the trend of global declines in marine predatory fish,” she said.