'This thing's heavy': Watch officers rescue giant sunfish stranded on Florida beach
A giant ocean sunfish, also known as a mola, was rescued by two deputies after it got stranded on a beach in Florida.
Bodycam footage shared by the Volusia Sheriff's Office shows Deputy Ric Urquhart and another deputy walking towards the huge fish that was stuck on the beach near Ponce Inlet, about 12 miles south of Daytona Beach, before trying to pry it lose.
"This thing’s heavy," Urquhart can be heard saying in the video. He then describes the mola's skin as “like sandpaper.”
When the deputies are unable to pull the fish from under the boardwalk, they tie a rope around the fish and drag it, eventually managing to free it. The mola can then be seen swimming towards the open waters.
Watch the rescue
What is a sunfish?
Ocean sunfish, or mola, are the heaviest of all the bony fish, weighing up to 5,000 pounds and growing to be 10 feet long, according to National Geographic. The silvery-gray fish is huge and flat with a tiny mouth, big eyes and a truncated tail.
They mostly feast on jellyfish, though they will eat small fish, zooplankton and algae as well, per the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
Ocean sunfish do not pose a threat to human, but they are curious creatures and will not hesitate to approach divers.
The mola is listed as “vulnerable” by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, according to the aquarium. Major threats to include drift gill nets, which cuts into their skin, and sea trash, like plastic bags, which resemble jellyfish, subsequently suffocating them to death when they mistakenly consume them.
Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for Paste BN. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.