The Largest Fish Ever Found By Divers

Wow, that's a giant fish! We have managed to reach the moon and even Mars in the last few decades, conquering a little bit of space each year and educating ourselves in what is out there. But one of the last known frontiers, and what should be most familiar, remains unexplored. Yep, we're talking about our oceans. More than 70% of the Earth's oceans remain unexplored. That's because the deep waters are often dark and can be terrifying. Divers that decide to brave the cold and dark take a real risk when they get into the water. But they also see some fantastic sea monsters that make for quite a story. Welcome back to Forever Green, where today we're going to look at some of the largest fish ever found by divers. But before we begin, quick pop quiz. How small is the smallest fish in the world? Alright, let's dive in. Number 8. Giant Sunfish in Portugal It looks like the great white sharks and whales have some competition. This insanely large ocean sunfish, or Mola Mola, was photographed by Miguel Pereira off the coast of Portugal. The fish gets its name thanks to its habitat of sunbathing on the surface of the water, and Mola, the Latin word for millstone, alludes to its flattened shape. The largest specimens usually reach 14 feet fin to fin and weigh over 5,000 pounds or 2.6 tons. These are the heaviest known bony fish in the world and can be found worldwide. But because they like the open ocean better, seeing them like this is pretty special. It's incredible that these divers managed to control themselves and not touch the fish. Not only would touching them be wildlife harassment, but scaleless fish like the sunfish are known to carry over 40 different parasites. Sunfish don't have teeth but instead have a fused beak. This helps them break jellies and other small prey items into pieces, which they then mince with claw-like plates in their throats. Sounds terrifying, doesn't it? They primarily feed on small fishes, squid, and crustaceans. Sea jellies actually make up only about 15% of their diet. Their eyes are large and allow for a lot of light to come in, which is essential for foragers like the sunfish. A female sunfish can produce up to 300 million eggs per brood. And upon hatching, the babies look very little like the adult form. Over time, the clavis, which is the rubber-like appendage, forms the fin rays. As you can see in the video, despite its giant size, the sunfish poses no threat to the diver. The only danger is that sometimes these fish jump from the water and onto boats, damaging the vessel and injuring the people on it. 7. Basking Sharks in Mayo The basking shark is the second-largest living fish on Earth and one of three plankton-eating sharks besides the whale shark and megamouth shark. You'll find them anywhere in the world, and it's a slow-moving filter feeder with anatomical adaptations for filter feeding, like an enlarged mouth and gill rakers. These divers got pretty close and weren't harmed, given these sharks are a whopping 26 feet in length and can weigh 16 tons. But luckily, they have no interest in humans. They feed on small fish and zooplankton, and they are generally quite passive. Basking sharks often just circle divers calmly. Sadly, because of their calm nature and slow swimming, they have been preyed upon for their flesh, hide, and large liver by humans. It is currently fished mainly for its fins, and parts of it are used in traditional Chinese medicine. They are now a threatened species, with their numbers dropping massively between the 1900s and 2000s. As a result of this, the basking shark is protected in some territorial waters, and the trade of its products is restricted in several countries. It doesn't help that these sharks also have natural predators like white sharks and killer whales. Number 6. Giant Oarfish in Mexico The giant oarfish is found worldwide in the upper layers of the open ocean, but it is most common in the tropics and middle latitudes. They are the world's longest bony fish, reaching record lengths of 26 feet. But there have been specimens going up to 36 feet. While kayaking in Baja, Mexico, on a trip organized by a tour company called UnCruise Adventures, two explorers caught sight of not one, but two giant oarfish. They were swimming about in a shallow lagoon, which is unusual since they typically like the open ocean. Maybe it was strong currents that drew them so close to the shore, and despite people trying to lead them back, they remained stranded. Oarfish have a ribbon-like structure, with a dorsal fin along its entire length from between the eyes to the tip of the tail. Because of their appearance, they are often assumed to be the sea serpents divers talk about. At the head of the fish is a distinctive red crest. Its organs are all concentrated toward the head, so it can lose large portions of its tail and still be able to survive just fine. It doesn't face much danger from humans, as they are not fished commercially, but they do occasionally get caught in nets and marketed. But for the most part, they stay far out in the open ocean or deep in the mesopelagic zone at 3,300 feet. 5. Rescuing a 40-foot whale shark Whale sharks are found in almost all tropical waters, although they are considered a rarity. They are most commonly spotted in Maldives and Seychelles and the dive islands of Koh Tao. In fact, one of the major reasons diving is so popular here is so everyone can get a look at this beautiful, endangered shark. What makes the experience better is that there is no danger. Whale sharks pay little attention to divers, probably because they have nothing to fear in the ocean, given its massive size. But while whale sharks may not have any natural predators, it does have to contend with hunters and fishermen. Even when the whale sharks aren't that close to the shore for humans to be a threat, they have to deal with other debris in the ocean, specifically those put there by man. This brave team of divers managed to pull off the rescue of this giant whale shark that was caught in a rope. It was around its head and pectoral fins, and the divers, Simone Musumeci and Antonio DeFranco, managed to free it. When it was finally free, you could see it joyously swim away. You'll find that you can spend your whole dive with these sharks and even snorkel with them because they don't swim away from humans. Every year, a large number of them are tagged and tracked by scientists and divers to make sure they are safe. This gives us a better idea of their lives, and we can learn how to do more to protect them. 4. Bluntnose Sixgill Shark Hundreds of meters below the surface is an apex predator that's bigger than the great white shark and older than dinosaurs. The Bluntnose Sixgill shark, often called the cow shark, is the largest hexacoid shark growing up to 20 feet in length. They are typically found in tropical and temperate waters, and their diet varies by region. It consists of other species too, like the Big Eye Sixgill shark. In 2019, a group of scientists went out to tag the mythical beast to keep it protected and learn about how they move, what they eat, their mating habits, and more. The tagging itself brings no harm to the shark, but the process can be painful. If you're not in a submarine, the shark is hauled to the boat much like a fisherman would. Which brings the shark much closer to the surface than it would ever come. There could be a light trauma for a deep-sea shark like this Sixgill, since they don't usually experience light that bright, and thermal trauma since it's hotter on the surface than deeper in the ocean. When they are finally let go, they usually take about 24-48 hours to return to normal behavior. Here, the scientists sit in a submarine, waiting for the Sixgill to approach. The female shark pushes and bumps the submarine, but the scientists don't seem to be scared by that. They tag the shark, using a spear appendage protruding from the sub, and the shark struggles for a little while before the spear falls off, having done its job of tagging the blunt-nosed Sixgill. Since 2005, scientists have been able to tag these sharks to study their behavior, and only one remained in 2019, which was tagged by OceanX, Florida State University, and the Cape Eleuthera Institute. Despite their massive size, these sharks are relatively harmless unless you provoke them. Three months after this footage was recorded, the tag floated up to the surface where scientists retrieved it and studied the data collected. The blunt-nosed Sixgill sharks are near threatened because, despite their extensive range, their popularity as a sport and food makes them open to hunting and exploitation. This shark was pregnant and whales in the area when Ramsey found her. But there is even some speculation that the shark Ramsey met wasn't Deep Blue, but Hoyle Girl, a newly discovered and equally massive great white who is also believed to be pregnant. 3. MORAY EEL ATTACK ON A DIVER This one is a not-so-friendly encounter. Moray eels are found everywhere, and there are about 200 species worldwide. They have a snake-like appearance, and their bodies have a pattern. Morays are known to be opportunistic, carnivorous predators, and they feed primarily on smaller fish, crabs, and sometimes octopuses. A spotted moray eel has been seen eating a red lionfish. They have few natural predators, which include barracudas and sea snakes. This is a giant honeycomb moray eel, also called the lacy eel. At about 9.8 feet, this is definitely the longest of its kind. They rarely attack humans unless provoked, and this diver must have done something to make this guy angry. As he quietly stands next to the creature to capture footage, the moray eel decides he has had enough and attacks the diver, forcing him to make a run for it. Good thing he got away because even though moray eels are mostly docile, their jaws are powerful, and their teeth are sharp. If you don't tend to it properly, you can even get a secondary infection. Moray eels are in less danger of extinction, but they are traded heavily for aquariums and private collections. You definitely can't eat them, as they are known to accumulate high levels of cigua toxins. Ciguatera poisoning can cause mild symptoms like dizziness, weakness, and itchiness, but it can go up to sensitivity to hot and cold and cardiovascular problems. In one instance, 57 people in the Mariana Islands were poisoned after eating the head of the fish. It is now time to check out today's subscriber pick. Remember, if you ever come across some bizarre or fascinating image, you can send it to us and we'll investigate. Today's pick comes from our subscriber, and it seems to be a giant, rather flat-looking fish next to a diver. We can't tell the exact size of the fish, but it's certainly huge. We did a little digging, and good news, it's absolutely real. It does look quite like the sunfish we saw earlier, and you could call this one a distant cousin. Check out number two, the bumphead sunfish. For the longest time, scientists thought the ocean sunfish were the largest of bony fishes, but it turns out that that title goes to its distant cousin, the bumphead sunfish. Etsuro Sawai, a biologist at the Hiroshima University in Japan, led a group that examined hundreds of sunfish specimens. The bumphead is identified by small lumps on its head and chin, and these guys can grow over 10 feet long and weigh around 5,000 pounds. They prefer warmer temperatures than the ocean sunfish and can be found in Australian waters with their other cousins, hoodwinker sunfish, slender sunfish, and point-tailed sunfish. Before we move on, here's a quick challenge for you. If you can leave a like on this video, smash that subscribe button, and turn on the notifications in less than 5 seconds, you will have 10 years of amazing luck. Hurry up and try it. It actually works. Number one, record-breaking great white shark, Hawaii. What might look like a scene out of the movie Jaws is just a typical day for the marine biologist Ocean Ramsey. She and a team of her divers were studying tiger sharks off the coast of Hawaii when they came upon the largest predator in the ocean and caught the action on camera. The female shark was 8 feet wide and 20 feet long, and to put that in perspective, that's as tall as a giraffe. This shark could be Deep Blue, the great white tagged by scientists about 21 years ago in Mexico. Deep Blue is said to be over 50 years old and has been featured on Shark Week on Discovery Channel. Despite her size, she's been regularly filmed being quite docile and calm, even allowing Ocean Ramsey to hold her fin. The shark is said to have fed on some whale carcasses, which could explain her calm demeanor. That's it for today, but we do have one thing left. How small is the smallest fish in the world? We hope you have put your guesses down below. The answer is Paedocypris, which grows to a maximum length of 10.3 millimeters. They are found in Southeast Asia and are nearly transparent. If you enjoyed this video, don't forget to hit the like button and check out more videos on nature and animals on the Forever Green channel. We'll be back soon with another video, but until then, thanks for watching and we'll see you next time.