A 600-Pound Discovery
When a 600-pound creature from the Pacific Ocean washed up to the Coal Oil Point Reserve in California, experts thought that it was the case of a sunfish.
After all, the ocean sunfish is a very large creature that can weigh up to 2,200 pounds! It can be so large that its height can be the same dimension as its length.
The Sunfish
The sunfish is the opposite of what you would imagine when you think about a fish. It doesn't dart across the ocean as most fish do, but it does have a very thick skin that discourages large predators from attacking them.
However, they are still at risk to be considered a meal by some of the most dangerous creatures in the ocean, such as sharks and orcas. But is it common for them to reach the coast?
The Flora And Fauna
You might be thinking that a sunfish is a rare sight in the Coal Point Oil Reserve. However, you'd be surprised to find out that this is probably one of the more common places where such a fish would wash up.
The area is protected by the University of California because it happens to be the home to several uncommon animals. As you may be guessing, the star fish is one of them.
The Coal Oil Point Reserve
The Natural Reserve at Coal Oil Point has a very unique habitat given the moisture that evaporates from the tidal lagoon, a power station that generates electricity from the tides' energy.
When the moisture evaporates, the area becomes predominantly salt flats, just as shown in the picture above. But what else do we know about this reserve?
A Sacred Place
The Coal Oil Point Reserve is home to more than 1,000 species. However, experts say that it is more than likely that there are many other creature that live in this sacred land.
It's very fortunate that the Reserve is strictly protected because most of the animals and plants you can find here wouldn't be able to survive anywhere else.
A Gray Blob
Since the Coal Oil Point Reserve is right next to the Pacific Ocean, many creatures that swim in this part of the world are very relevant to scientists.
Such is the case that we are discussing today, when an intern that was working at the reserve spotted something unusual that resembled a huge blob.
Curious Features
After Jessica Nielsen, a conservation specialist based in UC Santa Barbara, heard about the intern's finding, she was rather impressed and shocked at what she was hearing.
“This is certainly the most remarkable organism I have seen wash up on the beach in my four years at the reserve”, the conservationist said. But what was it, really?
A Strange Discovery
As the strange creature's finding was spread across professionals, Thomar Turner, an evolutionary biologist commented that he felt the same way Jessica did regarding the huge fish that had shown up.
He had seen the creature himself and later said to the public: “It’s the most unusual fish you’ve ever seen. It has no tail. All of its teeth are fused, so it doesn’thave any teeth. It’s just got this big round opening for a mouth.”
Baffled Scientists
The fish that had washed to the shores of Coal Oil Point measured 7 feet long and at the time, the best conclusion that the team of experts could come up with was that this indeed was an ocean sunfish.
But the staff wanted opinions from people all around the world, so they posted images of the discovery in iNaturalist, a website that is frequented by many experts.
Not An A Ocean Sunfish
While at first many of the experts that were commenting on the photos agreed that this was most likely the case of an ocean sunfish, others came up with contrasting theories.
Ralph Foster, a South Australian fish enthusiast and professional, was quite certain that the creature didn't fit into any of the species that had been identified thus far.
An Expert's Advice
Ralph Turner wasn't convinced at all at other scientists' speculations that the creature was a sunfish. Therefore, he turned to somebody that he knew would have a better answer: Marianne Nyegaard.
Being a specialist in sea creatures and anything involving the ocean, Marianne was just the person they needed. But what did she have to say?
Missing Creature
Nyegaard was confident that she could help the team figure out what the creature was. However, she first needed better pictures, since the ones that had been shown to her weren't clear enough.
Unfortunately, when she reached out to the scientists at Coal Oil Point Reserve, they found out that the creature was no longer where it used to lay. Seemingly, the tides had washed it away. But they weren't giving up that easily...
The Search Is On
Adamant to find the missing fish, Nielsen and Turner set out to find the creature. They did so by each starting out far away and then walking towards each other.
Fortunately, the search method proved to be successful because they were able to relocate the creature not too far from where they had first spotted it. What happened next?
Further Examination
Finally, the experts could take a better and closer look. Turner and Nielsen took clearer and more detailed photos of the creature and sent them back to Nyegaard and Foster.
However, while they were doing so, they noticed that there were features they hadn't noticed before back when they did their first inspection.
Unique Features
The first clue that this was not a sunfish was the shape of the clavus. The clavus is the back fin of the sunfish that never grows yet folds itself into the sunfish as it ages.
However, while at the beginning experts were quick to call the finding a sunfish, they then noticed that the shape of what they referred to as the clavus wasn't the same as that of the sunfish.
An Unbelievable Discovery
Soon enough, the expert community was about to have their confirmation that what had washed to the shores of California was indeed something very special.
The moment that Nyegaard received the clearer images, she was quick to announce that this was something extraordinary. The marine biologist said: “I couldn’t believe it. I nearly fell out of my chair”.
Not A Common Variety
Nyegaard was ecstatic. It seemed to be destiny because she was probably the only person that could have correctly identified the creature.
It turns out that the strange discovery was a sunfish after all; however, a very distinct type of sunfish named hoodwinker sunfish. Back in 2017, Nyegaard had researched this species and had since been looking for it.
A Confusing Species
The discovery and proper classification of the hoodwinker sunfish meant a lot to the expert community. Scientists had actually first known about the sunfish's existence back in 1758.
However, it wasn't until now that they had figured out just about how many varieties of sunfish there were. Can you guess in which other places this rare species had already been spotted before?
All Around The World
For instance, a strange-looking sunfish had been spotted in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Chile — that is, in the ocean of the Southern Hemisphere. Furthermore, there were records of a different type of sunfish being spotted in The Netherlands.
So when Nyegaard had been trying to pinpoint where the hoodwinker sunfish could possibly be located, she had all sorts of places to look into.
Finally Found
However, as Nyegaard looked into the discovery, she concluded that there had been several misclassified sightings. For instance, people could classify a common breed as a rare one or the other way round.
The confusion is why the hoodwinker sunfish has been swimming about, being sighted but not properly classified. Nyegaard commented that the hoodwinker “had gone unnoticed because no one really realized it looked different". Luckily, the case has been solved!