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'I thought it was fake': Giant fish found on South Australian beach


A woman has shared an impressive find she came across on a South Australian beach.

Linette Grzelak was at the beach near Murray Mouth at Coorong recently when she and her partner came across an enormous sunfish.

Ms Grzelak shared a picture of the fish on Facebook on Monday.

“I thought it was fake,” she wrote.

She later clarified the fish was dead and people were astonished by its sheer size with the picture shared more than 1000 times.

Linette Grzelak was at the beach near Murray Mouth at Coorong recently when she and her partner came across an enormous sunfish. Source: Facebook/ Linette Grzelak
Linette Grzelak was at the beach near Murray Mouth at Coorong recently when she and her partner came across an enormous sunfish. Source: Facebook/ Linette Grzelak

“Wow, that was swimming out there? No wonder I don’t swim in the sea,” one woman wrote.

“Bet that would give you a good run,” one man added.

South Australian Museum fish collection manager Ralph Foster told the ABC the sunfish was a rare find and while he estimated it was 1.8 metres long he said “they can get a lot bigger”.

“It’s probably an average-sized one, they can get nearly twice as big as that,” Mr Foster told the ABC.

The fish can reach a length of 3.3 metres and can weigh up to 2.7 tonnes, according to Fishes of Australia’s website.

A huge sunfish miles off coast of San Diego, California. Source: Getty Images (file pic)
A huge sunfish miles off coast of San Diego, California. Source: Getty Images (file pic)

Also known as Mola mola, the fish pose no harm to humans despite their large size.

However, a four-year-old boy fishing off the west coast of Wales with his family in 2004 was knocked over by a 30kg sunfish after it landed on top of him, the BBC reported.

Luckily, little Byron Grey was fine and he and his family continued finishing.

Last month, thousands of cuttlefish washed up at a popular resort in Chile much to the confusion of locals.

In October last year, residents of South Carolina were left baffled after a large cylindrical object washed up on a beach. It weighed about 90kg.

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