Sea Monster!!! (With pic)

[srobert]

Did'nt know they could grow <--- this ---> big:

The 3m sunfish was discovered at Taupata Creek near Puponga by passers-by on Sunday.

Read the article here (http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3070756a10,00.html)

http://www.stuff.co.nz/inl/common/imageViewer/0,1445,166172,00.jpg

[aricher]

Holy Moly :eek: amazing what's hidden in our seas!

[Jovian9]

How crazy. I feel sorry for the other fish trying to eat in the same area.

[edesignuk]

dammit, you had me all excited, thought it might have been the loch ness monster, then I find out it's just a big fish...

[srobert]

dammit, you had me all excited, thought it might have been the loch ness monster, then I find out it's just a big fish...

<--------------------- But it's THIS BIG !!! --------------------->

I bet it could chew off the belly of your loch ness monster. :D

[iGav]

I bet it could chew off the belly of your loch ness monster. :D

Nessy's dumps are bigger than that... :eek: :p :p

[jared_kipe]

That is a VERY large fish it is amazing that such creatures exist by eating relativly small things like starfish, and only getting oxygen through gills. It is nearly to the physical limit of how large gill breathers can be I would think.

[wdlove]

The way that the picture is taken, it almost has a face that has human characteristics. I just wonder how aggressive it is at that size. :eek:

[zelmo]

Fish on a spit?

Are they good eating? Looks like it could feed a small town for a few days. :)

[emw]

That is a VERY large fish it is amazing that such creatures exist by eating relativly small things like starfish, and only getting oxygen through gills. It is nearly to the physical limit of how large gill breathers can be I would think.

Not sure about that - some sharks (Great Whites) can grow to be 10m or more, which is significantly larger than this fish.

I had heard of sunfish before, but really didn't know much about them and couldn't envision what they look like (the pics cool, but not very revealing).

Here is a link to some nice pics of sunfish, which are actually quite interesting and beautiful. And big.

http://www.earthwindow.com/mola.html#

[Josh]

Sunfish are common, and that one is pretty average size...nothing special ;)

Its just the timing of it washing up where it did is what is interesting.

[jsw]

Not sure about that - some sharks (Great Whites) can grow to be 10m or more, which is significantly larger than this fish.
And whale sharks (http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/sharks/species/Whaleshark.shtml) can get bigger still - up to 14m long, 15 tons. I saw one on a whale watch here (didn't realize whale sharks were included in the price...) a few years ago. The guides estimated it to be about 35 feet (~11 meters, right?) long, and it was gigantic.

[srobert]

Sunfish are common, and that one is pretty average size...nothing special ;)
Its just the timing of it washing up where it did is what is interesting.

Wow! didn't know that. Looked pretty big to me, especially compared to what I can buy at the grocery. ¨_¨

[mattmack]

The way that the picture is taken, it almost has a face that has human characteristics. I just wonder how aggressive it is at that size. :eek:They are not very aggressive fish. They live in the open ocean and their size is their defence

[mvc]

They are not very aggressive fish. They live in the open ocean and their size is their defence

So the question is, what exactly killed this fish?

And can I not meet it in person please. :p

[Les Kern]

That ain't nothing. Wal-Mart had them in their seafood department 2 for $20.00. We got four of them and had a nifty barbeque at my place. One got loose in the pool, and our poodle is still missing, but we had a good time.

[Macmaniac]

Thats one big fish.. although is there any way to determine if this is a photoshop hoax?

[Mechcozmo]

That ain't nothing. Wal-Mart had them in their seafood department 2 for $20.00. We got four of them and had a nifty barbeque at my place. One got loose in the pool, and our poodle is still missing, but we had a good time.

:D
How big is your pool if you lost something like that in there?

That thing is huge...how did it get that far onto land??

[jsw]

...how did it get that far onto land??Washed up in high tide, picture is at low tide.

[mattmack]

So the question is, what exactly killed this fish?

And can I not meet it in person please. :p
They were actually fished pretty heavily in the Monterrey and San Francisco area in the past. I have seen amazing pictures (and even live ones) of these fish. I am not sure of their natural predators, but one never knows what you can find in the ocean. :eek:

[ejb190]

Thats one big fish.. although is there any way to determine if this is a photoshop hoax?
I really doubt if this is a hoax for one main reason. I scuba dive and have seen these guys. And they are HUGE, espically when you see your buddy swim up next to one....

[mattmack]

I really doubt if this is a hoax for one main reason. I scuba dive and have seen these guys. And they are HUGE, espically when you see your buddy swim up next to one....Hows the scuba diving in indiana? j/k They are huge I have seen a few in the aquarium outer bay exhibits and some pictures of the really big ones that were fished out here in the past so I don't think it's a photoshopped pic