9-foot ‘monster’ washes ashore

New Zealander Jane Dixon eyes massive sunfish (courtesy: Nelson Daily Mail)

It wasn’t a whale that washed ashore Sunday near Farewell Spit, New Zealand, but it grabbed headlines nonetheless.

The nine-foot sunfish has been dubbed “a monster with a strange sense of timing,” according to the Nelson Daily Mail.

Department of Conservation worker Heather Gunn was driving along when she saw “a big lump” on the beach, initially thinking the creature was a whale.

“It looked fresh. It did not smell and it had not been pecked over,” she told the paper.

Sunfish have reportedly washed ashore at least twice in the last four years, and a marine specialist said this occurrence was a “real oddity” due to the time of year.

“The literature says they can be found in New Zealand’s northeastern waters in warm summers, and they can stray south of Cook Strait. But this is definitely not a warm summer, rather a cold spring,” said the DOC’s Andrew Baxter.

He says sunfish can grow over nine feet and weigh up to a ton.