A giant sunfish that can weigh up to two tons was spotted off Laguna beach coast, but the deep sea-creature is something not to be afraid of.
Two paddleboarders Matt Wheaton and Rich German came across an enormous, colossal sunfish washed ashore the California coast, possibly one of the largest on record. The pair was said to have "spent a good 30 minutes with the fish before it sank back down."
"We were both just like shocked, like oh my God, look at the size of this thing," Rick German told Inside Edition. "It was just massive. My buddy's board is 14-feet long, and it looks almost as big as the board."
The giant fish's flattened body gives it a monstrous appearance but actually a gentle giant. Its dimensions are unknown, but for comparison, the paddleboard is 14 feet (4.3 meters) long. Judging from the photos, the sunfish was likely 9 to 10 feet (2.7 to 3 m) long - longer than the heaviest bony fish on record: a bump-head sunfish (Mola alexandrini).
Weird sea creatures popping up along the California coast
Rich German, of Laguna Beach, founded the nonprofit Project O to preserve the ocean and the life within it and hosts a podcast called Our Epic Ocean. According to him, he had many encounters with sea life aboard a paddleboard, including Earth's largest animal, the blue whale, as well as orcas, gray whales and dolphins in their natural habitats.
Other than that, a deep sea remote-operated vehicle also captured a rare sighting of a barreleye fish in Monterey Bay. Meanwhile, a phantom jellyfish was also caught on video for the ninth time ever in the same deep waters.
Moreover in the rare section, a pacific football fish was found dead in San Diego, and not far away, a deep-sea cannibalistic lancetfish was spotted.
"It kind of elicits this nightmare feel," said James Stewart of the Aquarium of the Pacific. Though the creatures look scary, Stewart said he "wouldn't consider any of them really a problem for people."
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Laguna Beach sunfish celebrity
Last October, a different sunfish celebrity, jumbo-size M. alexandrini was caught off the coast of North Africa. According to experts, the December encounter was likely a common mola, whose genus name is from the Latin word 'millstone' because the gray fish's color and shape look just like one.
According to iNaturalist, the fish live in temperate and tropical waters and are known to swim around coastal California. Although not as huge and heavy as the others, the "common mola is still a chunk, weighing between 545 and 4,409 pounds (247 and 2,000 kg). M. mola eats all types of marine prey, including small fishes, fish larvae, squid and crustaceans; less common meals include sea jellies and salps."
Aside from their body size, the sunfish are also known for their big, startled-looking eyes, huge heads and tall back fin, which is why they are sometimes mistaken for a shark's dorsal fin.
"The first time I saw one, I had no idea what it was," German said. "It looks like a mutilated shark that got cut in half."
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