The discovery of an enormous eyeball on a South Florida beach begs a very pertinent question: What kind of creature did it belong to? The "mystery eyeball," as it's being referred to by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, was found Wednesday by a beachcomber on Pompano Beach.
 |
| Giant eyeball found by a beachcomber Wednesday on Pompano Beach, Fla. Credit: Carli Segelson / Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission |
"We're hoping to determine what kind, but at this point we just don't know," Segelson said.
The eyeball is being preserved and will be delivered to the agency's research lab in St. Petersburg, where it's hoped an official identification can be made.
Perhaps the best comes from George Burgess of the Florida Museum of Natural History. Burgess has suggested that the eye may have belonged to a bigeye thresher shark. The species is found off Florida in moderately deep water, and the sharks are aptly named.
Then there was this more adventurous theory: "A giant squid ripped out a whale's eye."
Segelson said it might be several days before a precise identification is made.
"It probably is a squid eye -- other things with eyes that big (fish, cetaceans) have them imbedded in hard tissue. Squid eyes are in relatively soft tissue and more likely to dislodge as in the photo you sent. A quick DNA analysis could easily sort it out for you," Pitman said in an email message to the National Geographic.
However, Segelson said she wasn't so sure.
"From what I understand there appears to be bones around the eye, so that would rule out a squid." Segelson said.
source
source
SILENT OBSERVER:
No comments:
Post a Comment