Giant Eyeball the Size of a Softball Washes Ashore in Pompano Beach, Fla.

Sun Sentinel ^ | October 11, 2012 | David Fleshler,

[DogByte6RER]

Huge eyeball turns up in Pompano Beach

Taking his usual morning stroll along the surf in Pompano Beach, Gino Covacci noticed a strange ball-like object at the high tide line. He kicked it over and found himself staring at the biggest eyeball he had ever seen.

The blue, softball-sized orb he found Wednesday was a departure from the shells, cigarette butts and seaweed he usually sees. He put it in a plastic bag and put that in the refrigerator.

"It was very, very fresh," he said Thursday. "It was still bleeding when I put it in the plastic bag."

He notified a police officer, who gave him the phone number for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. No one could say immediately what species the giant eye came from.

Wildlife officers placed the eyeball on ice. It will be preserved in formalin, a mixture of formaldehyde and water, before being sent for analysis to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg, said Carli Segelson, spokeswoman for the wildlife commission.

So what creature is now swimming around with an eye patch?

No one is certain, although the waters off South Florida abound with species large enough to be possibilities, including swordfish, tuna, sharks and whales. Giant squids are known for developing huge eyes to gather in what little light reaches their deep ocean habitat.

Charles Messing, a professor at Nova Southeastern University's Oceanographic Center, said he couldn't rule out a giant squid but his examination of photographs of various marine creatures led him to think the most likely candidate was a swordfish.

Swordfish are extremely common off South Florida, which supports an active commercial and recreational fishery.

[DogByte6RER]

Stiil searching for his missing eye ...

[DogByte6RER]

Actually, my pet hamster spit it out into the ocean while on my sailboat ...

[fatima]

Hehehehe.

[DogByte6RER]

Ping

[ScottinVA]

“She has Bette Davis’ eyes...”

Well, just one of ‘em now...

[Obama_Is_Sabotaging_America]

It’s a Sunfish’s eye. Otherwise known as Mola.. I’ll bet the farm on that. And I’ve never even SEEN one in person.

[Kartographer]

"WE ARE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!"

[kingattax]

[Clint N. Suhks]

Giant squid?

[donhunt]

CBS got flushed out to sea.

[SteveAustin]

Looks like something from a very large Blue Marlin. Not sure how it gets there unless a commercial fisherman or poacher caught it and cut it up out at sea.

[SWAMPSNIPER]

[bgill]

Big Brother’s.

[Daffynition]

The *eyes* have it.

[Daffynition]

[Daffynition]

That is one amazing GIF!

[layman]

He put it in a plastic bag and put that in the refrigerator.

If you are married, this is a real bad idea and could get you killed.

[blueunicorn6]

I don’t know, but I think there’s something fishy about that eye.

[Forward the Light Brigade]

I know what it is—Octopus Giganticus—know as the Kraken.

[laker_dad]

The One-eye Love

I got a gal with just one eye
No depth of field but sweet as pie
And I just don’t care-eo
If her vision isn’t stereo

To me she’ll always be the tops
My sweet little cyc-a-lops
She’s the one-eye, one I, one-eye
She’s the one-eye, one I love

Now you might wonder what she’s thinking
Cause it looks like she is winking
In agruments I yell and cry
But she just can’t see the other side

It’s worse than it looks says her mother
Cause she’s blind in one eye, blonde in the other
She’s the one-eye, one I, one-eye
She’s the one-eye, one I love

Now how it happened she just won’t spill
Was it scissor-sprint or William Tell
Well the eye got put-out and was never found
Gonna take a look around

My Columbo Cutie, Popeye Punkin
Sammy Jr, Sandy Duncan
Oh, She’s the one-eye, one I, one-eye
She’s the one-eye, one I love

—Heywood Banks

[JoeProBono]

[DogByte6RER]

[Daffynition]

[SunkenCiv]

Looks like some kind of murine life.

[Joe 6-pack]

Probably an optipus.

[martin_fierro]

WHAT YOU DID THERE

I SEE IT

[Eaker]

Found yer eyeball.

[humblegunner]

Just checked, I still got two.

[FreedomPoster]

I think this guy is gonna be *pissed* someone has one of his eyes:

[SunkenCiv]

LOL

[floralamiss]

:-D Squid ya’ stop pullin’ my punny bone, honey?

[JRios1968]

[ilovesarah2012]

ROFL

[Joe 6-pack]

Eye will, my dear ;-)

[Eaker]

You used to have three.