Wales: sunfish knocks down child

A four-year old boy fishing in his parents' boat off the Welsh coast was knocked down after a sunfish jumped into the boat.

According to a report from icWales, four-year old Byron Grey, who was fishing for lobsters off Little Haven in Pembrokeshire, south west Wales, was stunned when the 90cm/36" fish jumped into the boat and knocked him flying.

His mum, Vivienne Grey told icWales: "It was amazing. It knocked him flying.

"We spotted the fin of the sunfish in the water and, because we knew they were rare, we thought we'd take the boat a bit closer to let the children have a look.

"The next thing we knew, it had leapt out of the water and landed in the boat, right on top of Byron..."

"But, as we got closer, it just disappeared. The next thing we knew, it had leapt out of the water and landed in the boat, right on top of Byron."

"We grabbed him from under the fish, and both boys were just shouting to their dad to get the fish out of the boat.

"It was very heavy, but Andrew managed to lift it and heave it over the side.

"Luckily Byron got away with cuts and grazes."

The Sunfish, or Oceanic sunfish, Mola mola, is the largest species of teleost and can reach up to 3m/10' in length.

However, it is also an extremely bulky fish, with a massive anal and dorsal fin which are both used for locomotion, giving the fish a very substantial height.

The Natural History Museum's dry zoological specimen store, situated in the depths of the museum in South Kensington away from the public, holds an enormous dried specimen measuring well over 2m/6'6" in length.