According to marine officials and witnesses, one of the largest and most elusive fish in the ocean, the Giant Oarfish, has washed ashore on a Swedish beach.
The fish found measured 12 feet and marked the first time in more than 130 years a giant oarfish was seen in Sweden. The last known capture of a giant oarfish, also known as the "King of the Herrings," was documented in 1879.
Several witness spotted the giant fish floating near the shore last weekend. While most passersby discounted the sighting, a western Sweden resident noticed it was marine animal and pulled it out of the ocean.
"We saw the fish floating there," a witness said. "At first it didn't look like a fish or anything my husband and I have ever seen, so we just left it alone."
After the resident captured the fish, which was dead, it was given to the House of the Sea aquarium in Lysekil.
Because the fish is dead, aquarium officials said they haven't decided what to do with it other than allow experts to study the carcass.
Aquarium experts said giant oarfish live in deep water and stay close to the ocean floor, where they can grow as large as 35, 40 or 50 feet in length. Most experts know little about the giants, which rarely haunt depths of less than 3,200 feet.
"The last time we saw a King of Herrings in Sweden was in 1879. We don't know much about the species, but believe it lives in deep waters, at least 1000 meters (3280 feet) deep, and many believe it's at the origin of the sea serpent myth," a House of the Sea statement read.
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