/ic/ - Artwork/Critique

I've been doing scrimshaw stuff and was doing this knife, using the top two images for reference.
My biggest problem is that the dark half of the swordfish is nearly invisible against the dark water, and I'm not sure how to avoid it in the future. Should I make the water lighter and sacrifice the way it looks in the top left pic, make the swordfish lighter all round and sacrifice the way it looks in the top right, give it a white outline, or something completely different?
Also general critique.