Giant 4,000 pound sunfish was rescued from a fishing net off the Spanish coast of Ceuta

The mammoth sunfish measured 10.5 feet long and 9.5 feet wide. Enrique Ostale, who leads the University of Seville’s Marine Biology Lab in Ceuta, estimated that it weighed about 4,400 pounds, based on comparisons with other catches.”We tried to weigh it, but we just had a scale up to one thousand kilograms, and in this case, we couldn’t use it because it was going to break,” he told CNN in Spanish.Ostale told CNN that his research team has been working with local almadraba fishermen, who use nets attached to boats to catch fish like tuna, for four years to study sunfish. Based on their catch, the fishermen and researchers select what interests them while returning the other species to the sea. However, in this instance, the fishermen alerted Ostale and his team — who were working on a study of invasive algae at the time — to quickly come over and see the massive catch.According to Thys, the field of ocean sunfish research is very active, and a species called Mola tecta was named a couple of years ago. Although researchers don’t know how long Mola alexandrini can survive after spending time in the nets — and know little about their population structure or life span — Thys is grateful that the fish was returned safely to the water that day where it can “eat jellies, ply the waters, (and) live its wondrous life and spark wonder and awe in more people.””This individual is a colossal reminder that our world ocean still holds many mysterious surprises including massive marine megafauna which cause us to gasp with wonder and awe,” Thys wrote. “Big headed behemoths like this ocean sunfish can act as potent ambassadors to pique our curiosity, inspire greater understanding and fuel public desire to be better stewards of our marine ecosystems which are our planet’s life support system.”