Giant sea creature washes up on Oregon beach around gawking vacationers

Oregon beach vacationers were stunned by an enormous and strange-looking sea creature that ended up on the shore. 

A giant ocean sunfish - also known as a mola mola - was the third spotted since June at Hug Point State Park in Clatsop County.

The wrinkly-grey fish with large eyes and fins was dead when it washed up on the sand, but visitors were still intrigued by the sight.

It looks like the invention of a mad scientist, as described by The Monterey Bay Aquarium.

The Seaside Aquarium made a Facebook post about the attention-drawing fish on Thursday.

A nearly seven-foot mola mola washed up on the shore of an Oregon beach 

Visitors were intrigued by the ocean sunfish and spotted to stare at it. This was the third time since June a mola mola fish ended up on the Hug Point State Park shore

The aquarium wrote: The most recent sunfish at Hug Point was 6.9 feet long, which is average size for our area, however they can get up to 10 feet long and weigh up to 5,000 pounds. 

They feed heavily on jellyfish which are in huge abundance this time of year.

A similar type of fish called a mola techa - a hoodwinker sunfish - was also seen in August. 

Mola mola fish are are considered a vulnerable species with a decreasing population, according to New Tides Conservation.

They are slow moving, which can make them prone to being hit by boats, and they are at risk for suffocating on plastic in the ocean. 

Climate change and humans going into the ocean add to the danger ocean sunfish are in.  

They are the largest bony fish species on the planet and have an average weight of 2,200 pounds. 

Mola mola fish can weigh up to 5,000 pounds and be up to 10 feet tall 

The species has been seen swimming as deep as 600 meters below the oceans surface 

Their massive size allows mola mola fish to eat large amounts, consuming a diet of jelly fish, salps and other gelatinous organisms.

They were once believed to be part of the plankton family, despite their large size. This was because scientists thought they could not move against currents. 

But more recent studies revealed that ocean sunfish can move on their own, according to the Catalina Island Marine Institute. 

They have been seen swimming as deep as 600 meters in the ocean. One theory about why they are frequently seen on the oceans surface is they are warming up before the dive.

Interestingly, they can lay up to 300million eggs, more than any other vertebrae. 

Their only predators are sharks, killer whales and sea lions, but humans are still pose the biggest threat. 

Even thought this is the third giant sunfish to be seen at Hug Point in recent months, people were very clear with their excitement about seeing one. 

Ocean sunfish can lay up to 300million eggs - more than any other vertebrae can 

One Facebook user commented: Didnt know what a Mola Mola was until now. Thanks for the marine biology lesson! Who says you cant learn anything on Facebook?

Another user chimed in: Wow. That’s big. Maybe I’ll be lucky enough to see something out of the usual when I’m there next month.