‘World's Strangest Fish’ Creates Nerve-Wracking 'Shark' Scare for Beachgoers in California

A group of beachgoers in California endured a moment of fright when they encountered what they thought was an unusually large shark .

Knewz.com has learned that the incident involved what has been dubbed the “ ocean ’s strangest fish” with its abnormally large fin which wandered close to a Santa Cruz shore.

Images of the encounter depict the large dorsal fin protruding from the water—which at a glance could and supposedly was mistaken for that of a shark.

“Partially submerged with just its dorsal fin protruding from the water, it could easily be mistaken for a shark as you saw from one of my photos.”

The image shows a surfer on his board at arm's length of the creature watching it attentively.

Eric Mendelson who snapped the photos weighed in on the “partially submerged [fish] with just its dorsal fin protruding from the water,” and confirmed its likeness to one of the oceans’ deadliest predators noting that it could easily be mistaken for a shark.”

He explained how he came to see what was later determined to be a “large ocean sunfish”.

“I walked to a bluff overlooking the water; there was a group of perhaps 10 people looking out into the bay.”

“There were two surfers in the ocean watching something quite large swimming near them.”

“Another surfer who'd got out of the water told me he came ashore because he'd seen what he thought was a large shark and pointed out the creature everyone was looking at.”

One witness, Eric, set the record straight and was quoted saying:

“In fact, the animal was not a shark or a whale , it was a large ocean sunfish basking in the shallow water.”

The creature in question is said to be capable of growing to formidable sizes and weights (5,000 lbs) even heavier than that of the shark (4,410 lbs).

“They are rare to see as close to shore as this one was, although they are not terribly uncommon out in the open ocean,” Mendelssohn was quoted saying.

“I have lived near the beach in Santa Cruz for over forty years and this was the first time I've ever seen one in the wild.”

Mendelssohn explained that he knew what he was looking at as he had seen the creature before.

“I saw one in the Monterey Bay Aquarium several years ago, but it had to be released because it outgrew its tank.”

“Despite their enormity, they are docile animals, harmless to humans . Unlike sunfish,” the retiree warned,  “sharks are common in the Monterey Bay and great white sharks are often spotted here.”

The elusive sunfish, however, may dwindle off into extinction .

“Human garbage , such as floating plastic bags, pose a risk to them as they mistake the plastics for jellyfish,” noted Mendelsohn (via PEN NEWS ).

“Once ingested the bags can clog up the digestive tracts of the sunfish causing them to starve to death.”