The mystery surrounding the owner of a huge blue eye that washed up on a beach in Florida appears to have been solved.
The eye was found last week by Gino Covacci on Pompano Beach, north of Ft. Lauderdale, while he was taking a walk. He told the Sun Sentinel that the eye was still very fresh and in fact was still bleeding when he put it into a plastic bag.
Experts had offered tuna, swordfish and giant squid as among the possible owners.
The eye was put on ice until it could be sent to the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in Florida for tests — and now it has been confirmed that it most likely came from a large swordfish.
"Experts on site and remotely have viewed and analysed the eye, and based on its colour, size and structure, along with the presence of bone around it, we believe the eye came from a swordfish," said Joan Herrera, of the FWC’s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute.
And how did the eye come to be washed up, still so fresh and intact on the beach? Experts say that the presence of straight-line cuts around the eye probably means it was removed by a fisherman and discarded…
Genetic testing will now be carried out to confirm the findings.
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