CNN —A rare 7.3-foot hoodwinker sunfish washed ashore on the Oregon coast earlier this week, the Seaside Aquarium said. The massive aquatic species was found north of Seaside in northwestern Oregon along Gearhart Beach on June 3. This image shows a hoodwinker sunfish that washed ashore on June 3, 2024, on a beach in Gearhart, Oregon. Tiffany Boothe/Seaside Aquarium/APNyegaard recognized the species that washed up on Oregon’s coast as the hoodwinker sunfish, or Mola tecta. The researcher previously discovered the new sunfish species through her research and described the unique finding in a 2017 published paper.

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Persons: Mariann Nyegaard, Mola mola, Tiffany Boothe, Mola tecta, Nyegaard, CNN’s Ashley R, Williams Organizations: CNN, Seaside, Seaside Aquarium, AP Nyegaard, Facebook Locations: Oregon, Seaside, Gearhart Beach, California, Alaska, ”, New Zealand, Gearhart , Oregon, Pacific