Massive, rare fish from South Pacific
washes ashore in Oregon
A massive rare fish thought to only live in temperate waters in the southern hemisphere has washed up on Oregon’s northern coast, drawing crowds of curious onlookers intrigued by the unusual sight.
The 7.3-foot (2.2 meter) hoodwinker sunfish first appeared on the beach in Gearhart on Monday, the Seaside Aquarium said in a media release.
It was still on the beach on Friday and may remain there for weeks, the aquarium said, as it is difficult for scavengers to puncture its tough skin.
The aquarium’s photos showed a flat, round gray fish lying on its side in the sand.
Photos of a person kneeling next to it, plus another of a pickup truck parked alongside it as well, gave a sense of its large scale and size.
The stir it has created on social media prompted a New Zealand-based researcher who has studied sunfish to contact the aquarium.
After looking at photographs of the fish, Marianne Nyegaard confirmed that it was indeed a hoodwinker sunfish—rarer than the more common ocean sunfish — and said she believed it may be the largest such fish ever sampled, according to the aquarium.
In research published in 2017, Nyegaard discovered through genetic sampling and observation that the hoodwinker sunfish, or Mola tecta, was a different species than the ocean sunfish, Mola mola.
“Tecta” in Latin means hidden or disguised, referring to a new species that had been “hiding in plain sight,” the aquarium said.
A hoodwinker sunfish washed ashore on the California coast in 2019.
Other hoodwinkers have washed ashore again more recently in California and Alaska as well, challenging the theory that it only lives in the southern hemisphere, the aquarium said.
The aquarium added that it’s also likely that the fish washed ashore in other parts of the Pacific Northwest but was mistaken for the more common ocean sunfish at the time.
British Columbia family hides from bear
after it breaks into home
A Rossland family is recovering after a bear broke into their home over the weekend.
The homeowner called Trail and Greater District RCMP on Sunday, just before 1 a.m., to report that a bear was breaking into their home in the 1400-block of Columbia Avenue. The woman locked herself, her children and her dog in an upstairs room to hide from the bear until officers could arrive.
RCMP say that when police arrived, one of the officers had to force open the front door which freed the bear that had ended trapped inside the home.
No one was injured, but the family was very shaken up, Trail RCMP said in a release Tuesday (June 4).
"The family did the right thing at the right time by calling the police and sheltering in place," Sgt. Mike Wicentowich.
"This was a scary incident for them as it would be for anyone. The BC Conservation Office Service was notified about the incident and hopefully will follow up with the family. Please secure all of your garbage and potential food sources to help prevent incidents like this from occurring."
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