A large sunfish was found Saturday afternoon, February 24, along the beach of the former seaside hospital on the Venice Lido. Local firefighters intervened for the unusual operation after some passers-by reported the presence of a large carcass, beached in the shoreline. In agreement with law enforcement, the firefighters decided to recover the carcass. The body of the giant sea creature was made available to scientists at the University of Padua. Photos and video shared by firefighters on their Facebook page show the impressive find. The sunfish carcass was wrapped in a strap, and tracks in the sand suggest the animal was dragged closer to land. Impending bad weather prompted emergency services to recover the carcass. Although the sunfish stranded on the Italian coast is already impressive in size, its likes can get much larger. The largest sunfish ever recorded, discovered off the Azores, weighed an incredible 2.7 tons, more than twice the size of the Lido specimen.
|