Do not call 911 or the police station if you are in Wareham, Massachusetts, and you spot a strange creature in the water. Most likely, you are gazing at a sunfish, which is an entirely typical marine animal. They’re just big and ugly looking.
The idea of looking out into the water and spotting a sea monster sounds like something from a scary story. But for a couple of Massachusetts residents, that’s exactly what happened. The two fishermen made a very intriguing discovery while boating in Wareham’s Broad Cove.
The two men turned on their cameras as soon as they saw this strange sea creature in an effort to capture it on film. The two fishermen found it difficult to believe what was taking place.
This enormous sea monster wasn’t just seen by the two fishermen. Numerous calls from concerned citizens who had also seen the creature in the ocean were made to the neighborhood police department.
The sightings were covered by Inside Edition. Additionally, they covered the man’s call reporting his sighting of the creature, saying, “There’s something out there swimming around. All I can get out of it is a fin or a flipper.”
Others felt the creature was likely an injured seal or possibly a shark. However, the thing wasn’t really a monster. Despite its monstrous and otherworldly appearance, the creature was neither of those things.
A sunfish, that is.
Just a regular sunfish. Not a huge sea monster, a huge new species, or anything else that might challenge Godzilla in a future film.
Despite having a name that sounds very friendly, sunfish can actually be quite intimidating.
Sunfish are interesting to encounter in the ocean because they can grow up to 14 feet vertically and weigh close to 5000 pounds. They also go by the name “Mola,” and they are the largest bony fish on the planet in terms of mass.
Sunfish have a tall dorsal fin that can conjure the John Williams theme from Jaws when spied by nervous swimmers. However, they tend to swim on their sides, so the dorsal will come in and out of the water as they navigate about. So when the dorsal fin goes up and down, it’s not a shark. Sharks swim straight ahead with dorsal remaining above water, according to the Cape Cod Times.
The Wareham Department of Natural Resources responds to inquiries from the public on Facebook as a result of the numerous calls from Cape Cod residents who are concerned writing:
“We are aware of a sunfish in Broad Cove. We have checked on it, and it is doing normal sunfish activities. Its swimming. It is not stranded or suffering. The sunfish is FINE.
Don’t be jealous just because its not swimming weather anymore!
PLEASE STOP CALLING THE POLICE DEPARTMENT ABOUT THIS SUNFISH!!”
The sunfish that caused such a commotion when it was discovered by fishermen and locals wasn’t even that big.
The fish was actually rather small for its species, according to Garry Buckminster, director of the town’s Department of Natural Resources. He said this specific sunfish probably only weighed 150–250 pounds.
Watch the video below:
