Giant eyeball washes up on beach and baffles scientists
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AP
A giant blue eyeball belonging to a sea creature of some description has washed up on a Florida beach - and is baffling scientists who don't know where it came from.
The eye, described as the size of a softball and blue, was found by a man walking on the beach in Pompano Beach, north of Fort Lauderdale, on Wednesday, according to the Mirror.
Gino Covacci, who discovered the eyeball, told the Orlando Sentinel newspaper: "It was very, very fresh. It was still bleeding when I put it in the plastic bag."
He gave it to police who handed the eyeball on to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation, where it is being kept on ice.
AP
The eyeball will be sent to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg for further tests.
According to knoxnews.com, agency spokeswoman Carli Segelson says the eyeball belongs to a marine animal, and possible candidates include a giant squid, a whale or some type of large fish.
Segelson said the identification of the species could take some time, although scientists are starting to narrow it down.
"Right now it sounds like a large fish is the leading candidate," she said.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, Charles Messing, a professor at Nova Southeastern University's Oceanographic Centre, said he couldn't rule out a giant squid but his examination of photographs of various marine creatures led him to think the most likely candidate was a swordfish.
See more weird and wonderful things from Mother Nature below:
World's strangest animals
- Aye-aye<p> <strong>Where can I find one?</strong> These endangered nocturnal primates are typcially found in the eastern rainforests of <strong>Madagascar</strong>. They're also known to hang out on the island of Nosy Mangabe, on the country's eastern coast.</p> <p> <strong>Tell me a secret:</strong> According to legend, the aye-aye is an evil omen. It's so feared by the people of Madagascar that it is still often killed on sight.</p>
- Alpaca<p> <strong>Where can I find one?</strong><strong> </strong>Alpaca are kept in herds for their wool on the level heights of the <strong>Andes </strong>of southern <strong>Peru</strong>, northern <strong>Bolivia</strong>, <strong>Ecuador</strong> and northern<strong> Chile</strong>.</p> <p> <b>Tell me a secret: </b>Alpaca spit at each other (and humans) when they're cross.</p>
- Dugong<p> <strong>Where can I see one?</strong> Sometimes referred to as a sea cow, the dugong lives in the shallow coastal waters of northern <strong>Australia</strong>, where they can live for up to 70 years.</p> <p> <strong>Tell me a secret:</strong> Although an acquatic mammal, the dugong is actually more closely related to the elephant than the whale or dolphin.</p>
- Emperor tamarin<p> <strong>Where can I find one? </strong>This primate lives in southwest <strong>Amazon Basin</strong>, north <strong>Bolivia</strong>, west <strong>Brazil</strong> and <strong>Peru.</strong></p> <p> <strong>Tell me a secret:</strong> The emperor tamarin allegedly got its name because of its similarity in appearance to the German emperor, Wilhelm II.</p>
- Kiwi, New Zealand<p> <strong>Where can I find one? </strong>The flightless kiwi bird can only be found in <strong>New Zealand</strong>. It's semi-nocturnal and very shy - so very few New Zealanders have seen their national bird in the wild.</p> <p> <strong>Tell me a secret:</strong> Despite its awkward appearance, a kiwi can outrun a human. </p>
- Probiscis monkey<p> <strong>Where can I find one? </strong>The probiscis monkey is found exclusively on the island of <strong>Borneo</strong> in south east Asia, primarily in mango swamps. Their long noses are thought to attract females.</p> <p> <strong>Tell me a secret:</strong> The probiscis monkey is an expert swimmer and has the longest nose out of all primates.</p>
- Leafy sea dragon<p> <strong>Where can I find one? </strong>Along the southern and western coasts of <strong>Australia</strong>. Leafy sea dragons have become endangered through pollution and are now a protected species.</p> <p> <strong>Tell me a secret:</strong> Because of their excellent camouflage, leafy sea dragons don't have any natural predators.</p>
- Naked mole rat<p> <strong>Where can I find one?</strong> These strange-looking animals remain furless all their lives and live in parts of <strong>Sub-Saharan Africa. </strong>They are virtually blind but have acute hearing.</p> <p> <strong>Strange fact:</strong> Naked mole rats live in colonies led by one dominant rat (the queen). Like some insect species, the queen is the only naked mole rat female to breed and bear young.</p>
- Platypus<p> <strong>Where can I find one? </strong>The platypus is unique to <strong>Australia</strong>, inhabiting fresh water streams, rivers, lakes and farm dams.</p> <p> <strong>Tell me a secret:</strong> The male platypus has a venomous spur on the inside of each hind claw. The poison can kill a dingo and is said to be leave humans helpless for several weeks.</p>
- Soft-shelled turtle<p> <strong>Where can I find one? </strong>The soft-shelled turtle can be found in the waters of <strong>China</strong> and south east Asia as well as <strong>Russia</strong>.</p> <p> <strong>Tell me a secret:</strong> Using its long nostils, the Chinese soft-shelled turtle can snorkel in shallow water using its long nostrils.</p>
- Komodo dragon, Indonesia<p> <strong>Where can I find one? </strong>The largest and heaviest lizards on earth, komodos are also the most lethal. They're native to <strong>Indonesia</strong>, and will eat anything, including deer, pigs, water buffalo and even humans. Their saliva teems with bacteria, so within 24 hours of being licked or bitten, most animals will die of blood poisoning. They are classified as an endangered species and protected under Indonesian law.</p> <p> <strong>Tell me a secret:</strong> Komodo dragons have lived for millions of years, but were only discovered by humans 100 years ago.</p>
- Tarsier<p> <strong>Where can I see one? </strong>One of the world's smallest primates, the tarsier lives in the forests of <strong>Sumatra</strong>, <strong>Borneo </strong>and the <strong>Philippines</strong>. </p> <p> <strong>Tell me a secret:</strong> Tarsiers have the biggest eyes of any land mammal. In fact, their eyes are so large that they'd be the equivalent to the size of a grapefruit in a human being.</p>
- Echidna<p> <strong>Where can I see one?</strong> These nocturnal creatures are <strong>Australian</strong> egg-laying mammals who live in rainforests and deserts.</p> <p> <strong>Tell me a secret:</strong> An echidna can lift an object twice its weight.</p>
- Blobfish<p> <strong>Where can I see one?</strong> You'll have to dive pretty deep - they inhabit the extreme depths off the coasts of <strong>Australia </strong>and <strong>Tasmania</strong> as well as<strong> Japan</strong> - but even if you did that you'd be very unlikely to see one as they're pretty rare, thanks to overfishing.</p> <p> <strong>Tell me a secret: </strong>The blobfish has no muscles - it floats above the sea bed as a gelatinous mass.</p> <p> </p>
- Star-nosed mole<p> <strong>Where can I see one? </strong>These distinctive tentacled underground mammals are native to <strong>north America.</strong></p> <p> <strong>Tell me a secret:</strong> Star-nosed moles have 22 tentacles with more than 25,000 receptive organs - all in a space smaller than one square centimetre.</p>
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