A giant eyeball that was washed up at Pompano Beach in Fort Lauderdale, Florida still remained as a mystery to many.
The said eyeball was found by a man named Gino Covacci on Wednesday, October 10, 2012, while taking a walk across the beach. He then put it on a plastic ice bag and turned it over to marine biologists from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission to identify which sea creature did it belong.
The huge, blue eye ball became an internet buzz over the past few days as many people kept pondering where did it come from. Was it an eyeball of a giant squid? Or was it from a large fish such as a swordfish, a marlin, a shark and a sailfish?
One of the experts who have her opinion about the mysterious eyeball was Heather Bracken-Grissom, an assistant biology professor at Florida International University in Miami. As soon as she saw it, she and her colleagues concluded that it may be from a deep sea squid since the eyeball’s lens and pupil are similar in shape to that of the sea creature, which can be as large as a soccer ball and can easily become dislodged.
Giant Eyeball Found in Florida Beach
Image Credit: Carli Segelson/Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
Another expert, Shark expert George Burgess from the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville also commented about the nature of the newly discovered giant eyeball. He said he had spoken to one of the scientists from the museum and told him that he was sure that it came from a large swordfish.
“I’d say the fish was a pretty decent size, probably more than 10ft in length. There was a bit of bone left on the other side of the eye from where it was taken from the animal. That would eliminate a shark because they have cartilage, and on that basis it was likely one of the billfish,” Burgess said.
Currently, the giant eyeball was kept in a jar in the laboratory in the museum while they are still waiting for the official results of the genetic tests being done by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St Petersburg. The results of the tests is expected to come out on Friday or on Monday.
