Rare 7-foot fish washes ashore on US coastline

GEARHART, Ore. (KPTV/Gray News) - A rare fish has washed ashore along the Oregon coast, and it’s a big one!

The 7.3-foot hoodwinker sunfish washed ashore on a beach in Gearhart, just north of Seaside on June 3.

At first, officials thought it was a common ocean sunfish, but it’s actually a relatively new species of the fish.

The hoodwinker was just discovered back in 2014.

This image provided by Seaside Aquarium shows a hoodwinker sunfish that washed ashore on June 3, 2024, on a beach in Gearhart, Ore. (Tiffany Boothe/Seaside Aquarium via AP)(AP)

The Seaside Aquarium was able to take samples of the fish for a researcher in New Zealand who confirmed it was a hoodwinker.

Officials said the fish would likely remain at the beach in Gearhart for days, or maybe weeks, to come as their tough skin makes it hard for scavengers to eat them.

The Seaside Aquarium is actually encouraging people to go see the giant fish for themselves.

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