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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:
its the eyeball of a hammerhead shark
Blue Marlin. A BIG blue Marlin.
I agree.
I caught Sailfish in MX and it had beautiful blue eyes like this..the bluefin I caught had silver/grayish eyes so I don't think it is a tuna unless they have different colors of eyes? Whatever it is..its dead :( When I saw the blue eyes of the sailfish that I caught..I had to let it go. Too beautiful to keep. Now if it was an octopus or squid that big...EEK!
I see what you did there.
The big eye is from a Cyclops like "Lela" in Futurama, it has to be!
It's probably a Russian spy device, another conspiracy,....... It probably has GPS, on board video, it's a spy folks.
The eye ball is from a giant squid. I had seen a show on giant squids on Nat Gio and sure enough, thats just what they found on a squid caught off of Japan
Now I'm hungry!
whatever it is, i'm sure it's obama's fault.
No, Obuma will just blame is on Bush!
Just checked,it not my wifes.
MistyfEYEd
They did say it washed ashore probably from Middle Earth. It's the eye of Sauron!
Giant squid
Eye of Sauron?
Take in a movie or two once in a while. Also there's Google. That's all the help you'll get from me. Eye suggest you look it up.
he could read the books coop, you know those good stories hollywood keeps gaffling cuz they're too lazy to write their own original scripts these days.
Hmmmmm, isn't that in close proximity to the Bermuda Triangle?
Its the eye of the tiger.....wait for it...shark
Ia Ia Cthulhu phtagn!
Is that some Star Wars reference that eye will never get?
I agree about it being a squid eye.
It is a subtle reminder from Posiden that he is watching and doesn't care for us trashing his water. And, if we think this is special he has something truly scary in mind.
It's from a see-creature...bah-dum-bum
Did everyone read the article completely? That is a pic of a giant squid eye. They actually have not showed you a pic of the eye that was found.
The article in front of me clearly state in the caption that this IS the mystery eye. Eye don't know where you got that impression.
Now that's an eye-opening article!
Silly people-- It's the eye of the storm.
Eye think the guy holding it in the pic has a cool clover leaf tattoo. Go Irish!!
Its the eye of the tiger....wait for it....shark.