With their enormous, otherworldly bodies and peaceful nature, ocean sunfish—also known as Mola mola—can live up to 100 years in the wild.
But one sunfish off the Florida coast nearly didn’t make it past the day.
Earlier this month, the Volusia Sheriff’s Office received an unusual call: a massive sunfish had become stranded, wedged helplessly between the shoreline and a seawall.
Pinned by the surf, the ocean giant was unable to return to deeper water on his own.
Thankfully, however, help arrived just in time.
When Deputy Rick Urquhart arrived at the scene, the situation looked grim. But the moment he locked eyes with the struggling fish—its huge, glassy eye peering up at him in silent desperation—he knew he had to try.
Unfazed by the challenge, Urquhart sprang into action. And this wasn’t just any fish.
“Ocean sunfish are the heaviest bony fish in the world,” the sheriff’s office noted. “Some grow up to 14 feet tall, 10 feet long, and weigh nearly 5,000 pounds.”
Despite the sheer size and awkward positioning, Urquhart worked tirelessly to free the stranded creature. As waves surged and time ticked by, the sunfish kept one wide, unblinking eye on the man who was fighting for his life.
And finally—success.
The moment the fish felt the water reclaim its body, it began to swim again. Slowly but surely, the sunfish drifted back toward the open sea, its fate changed entirely thanks to one determined deputy.
“It’s like watching a Roomba,” Urquhart said with a chuckle, watching the oddly majestic fish glide off into deeper water.
One enormous eye, one quiet moment of connection—and one life saved.
