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Carli Segelson / Fla. FWCC via AP
A photo from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission shows a giant eyeball from a mysterious sea creature that washed ashore and was found by a man walking the beach in Pompano Beach, Fla., on Wednesday. The eyeball will be sent to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla.
A giant eyeball that washed ashore and was found by a beachcomber in Pompano Beach, Fla., is mystifying wildlife officials — but probably not for long.
The softball-sized eyeball was reported to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission on Wednesday, and wildlife officers put the specimen on ice. It will be preserved and sent to the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla., for analysis.
Marine biologists couldn't immediately identify which species of sea creature would be associated with the eye, but researchers will use genetic testing if necessary to solve the mystery, said Carli Segelson, a spokeswoman for the commission. "I shouldn't say this, but they may be able to eyeball it," she told me today.
Segelson said she's been fielding tons of inquiries about the case, especially since a picture of "THE MYSTERY EYEBALL" was posted to the commission's Facebook page. "It's just gone viral," she said. There are more pictures in the commission's Flickr photo gallery.
Some have suggested that the eye came from a monster fish, a giant squid or even a whale. It does look a bit like this picture of an eye from a giant squid, but Segelson said wildlife officers are leaning toward a different scenario.
"The primary suspect right now is that it would be a large fish," she said. Among the possibilities are a swordfish, or a tuna, or some sort of deep-water fish species.
What do you think it is? Feel free to give it your best shot a comment below, and keep your eyes peeled for the answer.
More sea marvels:
- Florida fishermen pick up dying giant squid
- Hawaiian squid carries a built-in light
- Boy finds a bonanza in whale vomit
- Gallery: 10 deep-sea secrets revealed
Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.
Leave a Comment:
"Here's looking at you squid"....sorry could not resist!
It is "Old blue eye" from Frank Sinatra or it is from a sperm whale.
the big eyed fish...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqd-fROyeHw
It's from a blue fin tuna.
Jeepers creepers, where'd you get that peeper?
One must wonder who/what the original owner of this opthamological organ belongs to; but the second question is--what was big enough to knock it out of the original owner? Hmmmmmm. I think I'll put off my trip to the beach for just a bit.
Obama Eye - Big brotha' sayin - I be's watching yall' ...........
plain bob; No Way (see that play on the songs lyrics) - you posted a decent song...OMG!
Phone home E.T., now with voice recognition for the vision impaired.
Nonsense! It's my third eye, been looking everywhere for that thing.
That thing must smell horrible.
It is the new technological big brother watching made to look like Swedish man's eye. I have not picked on them for a while.
Has any one checked the New Jersey governor eyes to make sure they did not fall of from him. Considering their size I think they might belong to him. Remember in NJ you always find things falling from trucks.
It really does not look like it came from a squid. My guess would be it came from a very large marlin or a sailfish. Either way, that is one huge eyeball.
First guess is a giant squid.
Second guess, the eye of Sauron!
This is really some sad news .
Somewhere a school of sea creatures are missing a pupil .
That's a Marlin eyeball.
Well, give it back to the Marlins; they can use it.
Skin looks like swordfish, big one. They are more common for the area than big marlin or tuna and are often caught by anglers.
Mad-Eye Moody's aquatic cousin?
It's a one eye people eater.
maybe the fish are sick of the way they are being treated ,and they sent a private eye to get a better look at things
is it me or is this a little eye ronic
the fish dont have a proper alppahabet they are missing the eye
Mother Nature is keeping an eye on us?
ontor thats kinda funny in a cornea sort of way
It's all fun and games untill someone looses an eye!
It's actually quite beautiful.
Cthulu is that you?
Eye looked real close and
Eye can't tell!
It came from Sister Mary Bejesus, my third grade teacher. It's the one fron the back of her head.
Question is why did the fish not eat it?
Question is why did the fish not eat it?
BP's Dispersant's.
I cant think of any better puns or comments so thank you all for my morning laugh.
this is some funny stuff....you all made my day Thank You
All eyes on Florida, This is just the first one to show up.
Poseidon sending a little message to Florida,
Or Election Fraud Investigation Units new eyeball drone
Or part of Googles new beach view apparatus,
Or did they bury Marty Fledman at sea?
ONTOR - 1One1One had me at first but you win.
LOL!
Its a Sunfish eye
Today, somewhere, the Cyclops is starting Braille classes.
Or did they bury Marty Feldman at sea?
You beat me to it, damn your eyes.
THE KRAKEN ! http://www.fubiz.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/the-kraken-existence2.jpg
Wow!!! I get to read about a giant eyeball and whale vomit on the same day!!!!
I know this sounds weird...............but when that picture is on my computer and I walk around the room it seems to follow me............it's freaking me out.
pop it ! or poke it with a fork !!!
Eye candy
Oh my word! I wonder if this means that a larger creature in the sea killed this large creature to which this giant blue eye belongs to???? And could that have made his brown eye turn blue... love that song
Things are looking up.
Is it one of Big Brothers watchful eyes, or could it be the eye of the storm but whatever it is it's an eyefull
Why, I believe it to be the one eye pulled loose from an illusive bottom feeding sea catfish who had his other eye on the wrong 'fillet' and wasn't paying attention, as he usually did. Yeh, them Bubba's can get HEYUGE!
"Who are you going to believe, me or your own eyes?" Groucho Marx
"WHOSE" is it? That's hilarious!
Not sure, but think this could be classified as "see" food!
NBC is not going to like this guess...its the old CBS TV eye from the 60's.
Von Dutch is behind this.
It came from a Kraken!
Solved.. Swordfish that a fishermen cut the eye out of. Thats area 51's story.
Hey! I wondered where I lost that!
Florida again ? Possible suspects :One of the side effects of Bath Salts is eye expansion and popping out. 2. Could be what's left of the one witness who actually saw the Trayvon Martin / George Zimmerman shooting. 3. Remains of the last face eating zombie attack. 4. The last delegate to the Republican convention hooker experience. (you gotta keep an eye out for her). Lastly, and hopefully, the remains of Jimmy Hoffa. That way the F.B.I. can quit digging up peoples yards !
Maybe it's from a Giant One-Eyed Trouser Snake?
FLORIDA?!! HMM, Does the stand your ground law work in water?
No, K truant, but the Float Your Shore Law let's you spear any large eyeballs you deem a threat to your safety!!
Put it back...it belongs to the CIA...
Eye, eye, captain.
I wouldn't even begin to guess the fish or sea mammal that this eye belongs to, but I'm curious as to why the marine biologists don't know.
I know that wildlife organizations have their local animals mapped by DNA and can tell from hair/blood samples etc what the animal is. Don't Marine biologists have the same type of information about sea creatures?
While I'm sure there will always be new animals being discovered, and certainly that's a possibility for the ocean as well, it just seems strange.
I'll be interested in finding out what the conclusion is.
down with big brother---hahahahaha, camera from a drug interdiction spy camera--good one!
I do believe that it does matter in terms of scientific research. The ocean is a facinating place, and new things are being discovered quite often. Who knows if one of these days, a cure for cancer or a new source of energy could be discovered in that big blue expanse of H2O......
Giant squid is my bet.
Mine, too.
It's from a blue fin tuna.
How'd they get one of Rodney Dangerfield's eyes??
giant squid eyes deflate like balloons once the animal is dead
Giant squids have the largest eyes in the animal kingdom (non extinct animals) if I remember my biology classes correctly. I concur with Geowil.
I'm with uncle ben on this one. Blue Fin Tuna is my guess. Possibly a Big Eye (Ahi) but the colors are off. Giant Squid do have some large eyes but the colors on the eyeball pictured seem to brilliant for a squid.
alien nanny cam, and it's watching.
It's the KRAKEN
Spartan - I am assuming you realize Giant Squid and Kraken are the same thing.
Last seen setting in the Clint Eastwood chair.
Osama Bin Laden's eye
God has given up, he no longer is looking down on us.
@ Boromir....speaking of aliens, this could be from the last alien spacecraft that was shot down and fell into the sea. Yeah...while it was disintegrating the alien body blew apart and bits and pieces fell into the ocean. Alien investigative teams of scuba divers should go check out this area.... yeah that's probably what happen ;)
Maybe it just came up on the beach to heyed out!
No, they are not, Hollykb. Anyone who has read the Artemis Fowl books knows that!
My2CentsWorth--eegad! And those alien body parts will be eaten by sea creatures, and then all, ALL of them that eat thereof will mutate....................................aaarrrggghhhhhhhhh!!!!!
That wouldn't be that big an eye for a whale.
I agree it would not be too big for a whale but it has too much color. The tisssue around the eye does not what looks like squid. With the blue color and dark tissue I would think it came from some kind of tuna. The size of it would mean it had to be a very large fish. What I did notice in the picture is a happy face in the reflection.
It is definitely "see" food!
The blue doesn't quite look natural, to me. I was wondering whether it was some sort of pollutant or preservative.
Creepy looking - good thing scientists will be able to find its source. Wonder what happened to the rest of this deep-water fish/squid, whatever.
DNA testing should tell the tale, since the most probable sources - squid, whale and tuna - are all in different phyla. Cephalapod DNA doesn't look like mammalian DNA, and neither look like fish DNA.
I think the eye ball belong to ET.
@Wolfpack 2000. I was thinking the same thing! Maybe it belongs to an 'Engineer' from Prometheus!
Looks like the sensor from a sidewinder missile.
Hell, who the Hell would have PICKED UP that disgusting arse-lookin' thing?!?!
Haters gonna hate.. I think it might be long lost species known as Tursiops-magnus. It dates back to the transition period of dinosaurs to modern time. One of the first species after the extinction. Anyways, it was around 40 feet long and weighed three tons. They existed in the depths of the ocean, which would explain the soft blue retina, allowing maximum light to enter. But that's a guess.
The thing MUST be unique if locals can't identify it.
Well, its probably not, but that would be super cool if it was!
Aargg....it was Moby Dick, ye landlubbers
It belong to the One Eye Monster.
Not as far off the chart as you might think..... Mr. Gandy. Some pretty weird stuff is floating up on shore of beaches all over the world. There was a news report about a giant sea creature washing ashore after that Tsunami hit Indonesia.Actually there were 2 things that did.but the one creature was huge.It looked like it could have been a dinosaur that finally died.Besides....we have yet to discover what lives below the depths we can reach.
a Karken
Kraken?
JW - Moby Dick was a white whale - if you look it appears that the creature was grey color (from the tissue around the eye).
Lost - A kraken is a mythological giant sea creature sort of squidlike and it is thought that since most myths are based on some fact that the kraken myth is based on sightings of giant squid. Thus Kraken = Giant Squid.
I thought Moby Dick was a venereal disease?
Obama's ... last time Michele catch him checking out the other men. Girl's got right hook you won't believe !
People were having fun with this artical until you chimed in with your stupid fuking political comment. Get a fuking life numb-nuts because if you would just pull your fuking head out of your ass for a moment maybe you'll learn to have some fun and enjoy yourself.
'headlights' fish..looks like a new discovery
Kraken
Gosh as you look at the related stories right below the article about them finding a dying/dead squid and you go look at the picture guess what is missing! Hopefully the link shows... but ya gotta wonder...
Yeah, but then you look further down and there's the article "UFO case solved in Cincinnati"... and you start to think... I've been watching too much Doctor Who lately. Or maybe that was just me?
peopleareridiculous - My first thought was Atraxi, so I'm right there with you.
What fish did the eyeball come from? Just look for a fish wearing an eye-patch.
Best... comment... ever... Nice one eric!
I See You! Cant wait till its identified.
roc: With stories like this one, the jokes pretty much just write themselves.
Cthulhu
I was wondering when someone was gonna say that... LOL
The Loch Ness Monster?
The Loch Ness Monster lives in fresh water.
I see an eye I saw, so now I saw an eye you see.
(couldn't resist either)
It is a bluefin tuna eye.
Eye, eye, Captain.
Eye am mist-eye-fied.
It's a no-brainer! It's the loch nest monster! lol
I bet that whatever lost that eye is waiting for someone to come around just so he can say, "I'll keep an eye out for you".
It's mine, i want it back.
popeye the sailor man
I normally have an eye for these things, but I'm stumped. :-P
1 eyed 1 horned flying purple people eater!
I remember that song. God I'm showing my age. Good one Dave.
Sure looked strange to me.
Best Thread Ever!
Eye for an eye. What ever ate the rest of the beast and pooped this out, is something I don't want to mess with.
That is definately a squid eyeball. It may have been in an accident with a ship that knocked its eye out.
I agree with jockmama being a squid eyeball.
Did you just call jockmama a squid eyeball? Sm-eye-le when you say that, you varmint.
Oh, NO!!!! My mother-in-law's remains are starting to wash up one shore.
And I thought I weighted everything down!