An extraordinarily rare ocean sunfish that’s never before been documented in the Northern Hemisphere washed on up on a California beach earlier this month, in a thrilling and unique find for biologists with the University of California Santa Barbara. A 7-foot hoodwinker sunfish, scientifically known as the Mola tecta, was found on Sands Beach at UC Santa Barbara’s Coal Oil Point Reserve on Feb. 19, according to the university's news release on the find. — Marianne NyegaardLater, Thomas Turner, an associate professor in UC Santa Barbara’s ecology, evolution and marine biology department, arrived at the scene to see the fish for himself. He then posted photos of the creature to the crowd-sourcing website iNaturalist, where scientists from around the world could help identify the species. Nyegaard, after Turner and Nilsen provided her with clearer and more detailed photos, was able to determine it was indeed a hoodwinker.

Source: Fox News March 01, 2019 21:00 UTC