"Rare Creature Identified: Mysterious Gray Mass Found on Beach in Southern California"
In 2019, a gray mass was discovered on the coast of Santa Barbara, Coal Oil Point Reserve in Southern California. Initially, there were difficulties in identifying the creature, with the only characteristic being its extraordinary size and peculiar shape. However, with the help of marine biologists and the spread of images on social media, the mystery was eventually solved. So, what was this creature?
A 600-pound creature washed up on the beach
A seven-foot-long, 600-pound creature washed up on the beach, impossible to ignore, especially for the staff at Coal Oil Point Reserve in Southern California. At first, they had no idea what it could be.
Well, that's not entirely true. They recognized some similarities with other creatures, but as they approached the creature, they were puzzled. What was this marine creature, and how did it end up on a beach in California? Initially, they thought it might be an ordinary sunfish.
At first, they thought it was an ordinary moonfish.
Initially, the experts at Coal Oil Point Reserve believed it must be a sunfish. After all, sunfish are one of the largest fish in the world, with some weighing up to 2,000 pounds.
However, although the gray mass was not far off from a sunfish, there were some aspects that didn't match their expectations. The creature was large enough to be a sunfish, but was it really?
The reserve is protected by a university
The Coal Oil Point Reserve staff found the creature on the coast of Santa Barbara, California, in 2019. The creature was already deceased, right at the feet of environmentalists who had made it their life's goal to study such creatures.
The reserve is protected by the University of California, Santa Barbara, and is one of the best examples of coastal environments. Hopefully, the researchers would soon have an idea of what the creature was.
It was a large gray mass
The reserve is located on the Pacific Ocean, so there is already a large number of marine creatures, fauna, and vegetation. Researchers have no shortage of incredible animals to identify in the depths.
But what could this fish be? The intern who discovered the creature described it as simply looking like a gray mass. This was true, at least until he and the other staff members approached to examine the body.
Jessica Nielsen's opinion
Jessica Nielsen, a naturalist, told the press at the University of California, Santa Barbara, that she was initially shocked. Nothing like this had ever washed up in the reserve before. Unlike other animals, this one had peculiar characteristics that she couldn't identify.
In an interview, she also said, "This is definitely the most remarkable organism I've ever seen washed up. And I've been working here for four whole years." It was truly becoming mysterious.
USBC biologists dedicated themselves to the mystery
After posting pictures of the strange creature on the reserve's Facebook page, they waited to see if anyone online had any ideas. Evolutionary biologist Thomas Turner showed interest in the mystery.
As an evolutionary biologist, he was expected to have an answer to the big question, right? Unfortunately, he was as speechless as Nielsen. He even brought his wife and son to the beach to see the creature up close.
A fish without a tail fin
During an interview with CNN in February 2019, Turner said, "It's an extremely unusual fish, that's for sure, because it doesn't have a tail fin. All its teeth are fused together, so it also has a round opening as its mouth."
The size of the creature must also be mentioned. Turner indicated its incredible size by spreading his arms during the interview. He said the creature was definitely six feet long, simply unbelievable.
An ordinary sunfish
Without a tail fin, an incredibly large body, and weighing 600 pounds, the research team at Coal Oil Point Reserve came to a conclusion – the creature must indeed be a large sunfish, also known as a mola-mola.
The team posted pictures of their find on iNaturalist, a social media platform for environmentalists, to see if anyone had any further opinions. It was confirmed once again that they had found a sunfish.
Ralph Foster Had a Different Theory
It wasn't all as it initially seemed. Ralph Foster, a fish expert from the South Australian Museum, had a completely different opinion and dismissed the theory proposed by the team in California. Foster examined the creature and believed that it wasn't a normal sunfish.
He actually thought that this creature didn't correspond to any previously documented fish species. With this new thought, he reached out to someone who might have the answer to this mystery.
Marianne Nyegaard, a marine biologist.
Uncertain if his opinion would hold true, he decided to contact Marianne Nyegaard, a marine biologist. After writing her an email and a letter, along with enclosed photos, he waited and hoped for a response soon.
At this point, a clue would have been extremely helpful. Unfortunately, she wasn't particularly moved by the pictures and mentioned that she also didn't have a solution to this problem.
The creature remained unidentified
Nyegaard didn't give up on identifying the creature directly. She requested better visual support to be completely sure about the matter. During an interview with CNN, she said, "The pictures were just not very clear. So, I was hesitant."
She now had a new task - she wanted to find out what creature was present on the coast of the reservoir with Foster. She reached out to Nielsen and Turner to obtain better quality pictures.
Reservoir Coast Hits a Roadblock
Nielsen and Turner were more than willing to go back and take some better photos so that the scientists could form a better opinion. However, they encountered a new problem. When the two arrived at the beach, the creature was no longer there.
Several days had passed since the discovery, and the tide had come and taken the creature away. But they weren't going to give up that easily!
The search operation was well-structured - Nielsen and Turner started from opposite sides of the beach and approached the middle. Perhaps they would find the creature there, they had to try.
And they were right!
Just a little distance away from where they originally found the creature, the gray mass lay. Now they managed to take a few pictures with better quality and sent them to the two scientists. Hopefully, the pictures would help with the answer.
While taking the pictures, Nielsen and Turner noticed something unusual about the mysterious creature. They saw something that hadn't caught their attention before. They discovered some characteristics that could be particularl helpful in this "case."
Identification
Now they just had to forward the pictures to Foster and Nyegaard. It felt like they were on the verge of a breakthrough. What marine creature had they found? Soon, they would surely know.
In 2019, Nielsen told the University of California, Santa Barbara website "The Current," "It was really exciting to receive the pictures because I might be able to help with this unusual discovery - that would be fascinating."
The excitement was truly incredible. Once the photos reached Nyegaard, the creature could be identified. Nyegaard told CNN that she almost fell out of her chair when she realized what the scientists had found.
It was a Mola Tecta
After the second round of photos arrived, taken by Nielsen and Turner, Nyegaard was actually able to identify the creature. Instead of a normal sunfish, it appeared to be a Mola Tecta, also known as the Hoodwinker Sunfish.
Interestingly, it was Nyegaard herself in 2017 who got to determine the name and species of this fish. There are so many different sunfish species that it can sometimes be difficult to identify them accurately.
Ralph Foster had a different theory
It wasn't all as it seemed at first. Ralph Foster, a fish expert from the South Australian Museum, had a completely different opinion and dismissed the theory proposed by the team in California. Foster looked at the creature and believed that it wasn't a normal sunfish.
He actually thought that this creature didn't correspond to any previously documented fish species. With this new thought, he reached out to someone who probably knew the answer to the mystery.
Marianne Nyegaard, a marine biologist
Uncertain if he would be proven right, he decided to contact Marianne Nyegaard, a marine biologist. After writing her an email and a letter, along with attached photos, he waited and hoped for a response soon.
At this point, a clue would have been extremely helpful. Unfortunately, she wasn't particularly moved by the pictures and said that she also didn't have a solution to this problem. The creature remained unidentified.
She needed better pictures
Nyegaard didn't give up on identifying the creature. She requested better visual support to be absolutely sure about it. During an interview with CNN, she said, "The pictures just weren't very clear. So, I was hesitant."
She now had a new task - she wanted to figure out what creature was found on the coast of the reservoir with Foster. So, she reached out to Nielsen and Turner to obtain better quality pictures.
The fish was gone
Nielsen and Turner were more than willing to go back and take some better photos for the scientists to form a better opinion. However, they encountered a new problem. When the two arrived at the beach,
the creature was no longer there. Several days had passed since the discovery, and the tide had come and taken the creature away. But they weren't going to give up that easily!
They found the fish
The search operation was well-structured - Nielsen and Turner started from opposite sides of the beach and approached the middle. Perhaps they would find the creature there, they had to try. And they were right!
Just a little distance away from where they originally found the creature, lay the gray mass. Now they managed to take a few pictures of better quality and sent them to the two scientists. Hopefully, the pictures would help with the answer.
They noticed something unusual
While taking the pictures, Nielsen and Turner noticed something about the mysterious creature that they hadn't noticed before. They discovered some characteristics that could be particularly helpful in the "case."
Now they just had to forward the pictures to Foster and Nyegaard. It felt like they were on the verge of a breakthrough. What marine creature had they found? Soon, they would surely know.
Nyegaard immediately recognized the fish
In 2019, Nielsen told the University of California, Santa Barbara website "The Current," "It was really exciting to receive the pictures because I might be able to help with this unusual discovery - that would be fascinating."
The excitement was truly incredible. Once the photos reached Nyegaard, the creature could be identified. Nyegaard told CNN that she almost fell out of her chair when she realized what the scientists had found.
It was a Mola Tecta
After the second round of photos arrived, taken by Nielsen and Turner, Nyegaard actually managed to identify the creature. Instead of a normal sunfish, it seemed to be a Mola Tecta, also known as a Hoodwinker sunfish.
Interestingly, it was Nyegaard herself in 2017 who got to determine the name and species of this fish. There are so many different species of sunfish that it can sometimes be difficult to identify them accurately.