A seven-foot-long sunfish was recently discovered on the Oregon coast, catching the attention of local aquatic experts.
The fish, also known as a sunfish, recently washed up on the shore of Hug Point State Park in Arch Cape, Oregon. Local aquarium Seaside Aquarium posted photos of the creature to Facebook, noting that it's “causing quite a stir.”
“It's been unused for quite some time, but it's still an interesting place. [sic]”If you'd like to go see it, we recommend heading to Huge Point at low tide and heading north towards the falls,” Seaside Aquarium says.
The aquarium said the dead fish was 6.9 feet long, making it an average-sized fish, although ocean sunfish can grow up to 10 feet long and weigh up to 5,000 pounds.
“They feed on large numbers of jellyfish, which appear in large numbers at this time of year,” the aquarium said.
Photos shared by the Seaside Aquarium show the fish in a gray, shriveled and decaying state, with the aquarium noting that three sunfish have washed up on Clatsop County shorelines since June.
One of the fish, a sunfish, was discovered in June. Also known as a ocean sunfish, the 7.3-foot-long creature was the first to be described as an endemic species in the past decade and is believed to be one of the largest sunfish humans have ever seen.
” [sunfish] “Sunfish are native to the Oregon Coast and are unlikely to wash up on shore,” the aquarium noted, “but reports have increased due to the commotion caused when one washed up (this is the first sunfish recorded in Oregon, likely because it was only recently described and designated as a new species).”
“Everyone knows we're interested in documenting these strandings and gleaning information from them.”
Several Facebook users wrote about seeing the fish, with one commenter noting that it smelled rotten.
“It's now washing up on the south end of Hug Point Beach and it's pretty stinky,” one local resident said.
“Saw it last week, it was pretty deteriorated then,” added another.
