The Largest Sea Creatures That Ever Made It to the Beach

Gigantic squid

A squid is the kind of creature you normally have to venture deep into the ocean to get a good glimpse of. However, as the New York Post reports, residents of a South African beach in 2020 merely had to walk out into the sand to discover this monstrous underwater lifeform.

The creature weighed a whopping 660 pounds and, as you can see here, positively dwarfs the average person. In fact, this thing is so large that even its eyes are a foot long! Sadly, it was dead by the time it washed up, so there was no way to return this beast to the ocean depths.

Enormous stingray

Some of the massive sea creatures on this list got a happier ending than the poor squid. For example, just last year, a giant stingray washed up on the shores of the Mekong River. Stingrays are already the largest freshwater fish, and this bad boy weighed a whopping 661 pounds.

As Fox News reports, the stingray was given a cute name, Boramy, tagged, and then released back into the river. Thanks to the tagging, Boramy will help us learn more about other ocean life for years to come. Although since he is 13 feet long, we imagine other creatures will give him a relatively wide berth!

Giant catfish

Every fisherman loves to share stories about the giant fish that somehow managed to get away. However, a fisherman in Italy in 2015 actually managed to bring in the kind of catfish that looks like he could give Godzilla a run for his money.

According to Bleacher Report, an angler named Dino Ferrari managed to bring in this 280-pound monstrosity from the Po River. Or did he? Ferrari is a catch-and-release fisherman, so he let this thing back into the water after weighing it and posing for one hell of an alleged selfie. However, the fish is so comically large that many in recent years have accused him of engaging in a hoax to fool the fishing community.

Atlantic bluefin tuna

Some of the creatures on this list are so huge that they help those who catch them to make history. For example, Ken Fraser, a resident of Port Hood, Nova Scotia, made history in 1979 by catching an Atlantic bluefin tuna that weighed 1,496 pounds.

As reported by the Dutch Shark Society, this remains the largest tuna that has ever been caught. Considering that a bluefin tuna that weighed “only” 600 pounds sold for $1.8 million in an auction in 2020, this might also be the most valuable fish of all time as well.

Humpback whale

Let’s be honest: a whale is pretty much the last thing anyone ever expects to find outside of the ocean. However, residents of the City of Cape Town late last year had to deal with the shocking development of a giant humpback whale washing up on the beach.

As News24 reports, the whale in question was 15 meters long and weighed 20 tons. It was also dead by the time it washed up, which presented some logistical difficulties to local officials who had to figure out how to dispose of it. In the meantime, they warned locals to be extra wary of sharks that might now be lurking in the nearby water, lured in by the promise of a large, tasty whale (though we reckon they’d settle for some human-sized snacks).

Huge oarfish

If you don’t know much about the ocean, you might think an oarfish can’t get that big. But in 2015, residents of Catalina Island learned just how incorrect that assumption really was!

Because oarfish reside in the very depths of the ocean, it was awesome to get an opportunity to see one, even though it was sad that the beast was already dead. In fact, as CNN reports, these fish normally live 200 meters in the ocean, deeper than most people will ever go into the watery depths.

Leatherback turtle

While it’s always sad when a sea creature washes onto the beach and dies, it’s especially upsetting when the creature in question is endangered. That’s why we were so grateful when this endangered leatherback turtle was able to be saved after it washed up on the shores of South Carolina.

According to the Washington Post, the turtle weighed 500 pounds and was nicknamed Yawkey. And here’s some uplifting news: he was successfully treated by the South Carolina Aquarium and released into the ocean last year.

Orca

At first glance, you might think the orca is a whale, but it is technically a member of the dolphin family (albeit the largest member of that family). But in 2021, its great size wasn’t enough to keep this giant creature from washing up on the rocks in Prince of Wales Island, Alaska.

Instead of letting the beautiful beast die, Daily Paws reports that locals kept hosing it with water until the tide came in. From there, the orca was able to safely return to the ocean, leaving everyone who helped it with a story they will never forget.