A mysterious creature has arrived at a popular beach, causing divided reactions from shocked locals and visitors.
When beachgoers first saw the 2.7-metre-wide sea monster in Petrel Cove near Encounter Bay they originally thought it was a large rock. South AustraliaSouth Coast last weekend.
Shocked locals shared pictures and videos of the dead body on social media.
While some were excited by the ‘amazing’ discovery, others described it as ‘sad to see’.
The South Australian Museum has confirmed that the creature is ‘almost certainly a bump-head sunfish’.
The dead sunfish, partially buried in the sand, is bringing a steady stream of visitors to the beach, despite its strong odor.
At 2.7 meters wide, some people first thought the giant sunfish was a large rock
Local Danny Brown however was ‘quite spectacular’ by the giant sunfish and posed for a photo next to the creature to show its size and shape.
Since then it has also gone viral online.
‘Very good! The dead sunfish, partially buried in the sand, is bringing a steady stream of visitors to the beach, despite its strong odor. ‘Darshan,’ one viewer commented.
Another said: ‘Amazing. I wonder how prolific they are?’
A third wrote: ‘Beautiful gentle creature.’
Local resident Dani Brown heard about the fish and wanted to see it for herself.
‘It was great to see, it’s the first time I’ve seen it,’ he said. Yahoo,
Although sunfish can grow up to 4 meters wide, this 2.7 meter specimen was still huge when Ms Brown lay next to it.
A spokesperson for the South Australia Museum said Yahoo Although sunfish are found throughout the world, the giant washed-up sunfish is the most common species seen in South Australia.
‘You can tell it’s a bump-head sunfish rather than one of the other two types (Mola tecta, hoodwinker sunfish and Mola mola, oceanic sunfish) because of the prominent chin you can see in the photo. ‘This is not the case in the other two species,’ he said.
Although it is not known how the sunfish died, Danish marine biologist Dr. Marianne Nygaard previously told Yahoo that it may be impossible to tell what kills them and even she believes stranded Sunfish sometimes ‘fall to the ground’ just as people ‘fall to the sea’.
‘The stranded sunfish appear to be generally healthy and there is no apparent cause of death or loss that could explain why they washed up on the beach,’ he said.
Giant sunfish partially embedded in the sand have attracted a steady stream of visitors since Sunday, despite their foul smell
This is not the first time that sunfish, which usually live in the depths of the ocean, have washed up on the coast of South Australia.
It is believed that the Mola mola species was found near the mouth of the Murray River in 2019.
Ralph Foster, fish collection manager at the South Australian Museum, said: ABC News At that time, huge animals liked to come to the surface and enjoy the sun – hence their name.
Mr Foster said the creatures come to the surface and lie on their sides and, once warm enough, will return to a depth of several hundred meters and ‘feed on the jellyfish and stay down there.’