SUNSET BEACH, Ore. — A 100-pound fish normally found in the tropics turned up on an Oregon beach.
The Seaside Aquarium shared photos of the opah that was found on Sunset Beach Wednesday morning.
The species is also called a moonfish, KGW reported.
A large fish, rare to the Oregon Coast, was found on Sunset Beach this morning. The 3.5 foot, 100 lbs Opah was reported...
Posted by Seaside Aquarium on Wednesday, July 14, 2021
The fish was 3.5 feet long and weighed 100 pounds. Opah can grow to over 6 feet and weigh more than 600 pounds by eating krill and squid, according to the aquarium.
Employees of the Seaside Aquarium said they went to inspect and recover “this beautiful and odd-looking fish.”
Others called it bizarre, according to The Oregon Life.
The fish, which is dead, will be frozen and used for educational opportunities once school resumes.
One school group will be chosen to dissect the opah.
It is rare to find an opah in Oregon but it has happened before. A slightly smaller one was caught 37 miles from the mouth of the Columbia River in 2009, the aquarium said.
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