Deputies free huge ocean sunfish that got stuck on Florida beach

Sheriff's deputies this week rescued a huge ocean sunfish that got stuck in the shallows under a concrete structure on the coast of Florida.

The Volusia County Sheriff's Office shared a video this week of Deputy Urquhart working to free the enormous sea creature from the shallows of a beach near Ponce Inlet. The fish was partially stuck under a concrete structure extending into the water.

"See he's paddling with his bottom fin, trying to go forward," Urquhart muses. But forward takes the fish farther under the concrete. 

"It's also slimier than you would think," he says. Moving his hands to another part of the fish, he expresses surprise that it's "really rough, like sandpaper, like spiky sandpaper."

The deputy continues tugging and pulling the fish, saying, "this thing's heavy, bro."

"This thing's still breathing. You see how much water he's pumping through," Urquhart quips to another deputy. Although the fish is partially out of the water, it is still submerged enough to use its gills.

Eventually, Urquhart retrieves a rope to try to "work smarter." That does the trick, and the ocean sunfish swims away.

"What he was doing here I have no idea," Urquhart says. "Normally they like to hang out offshore."

The ocean sunfish (Mola mola) is the largest of all bony fish, with adults weighing up to 2,200 pounds. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, it gets its common name from laying flat on the ocean's surface to be warmed by the sun.

Reporting by TMX

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