Florida's 'Giant Eyeball' Mystery Marks 2nd Anniversary

Florida wildlife officials seem to have caught the Halloween spirit a little early this year.

In honor of Facebook’s weekly “Throwback Thursday” celebration, they trucked out the giant eyeball that created a stir across the country a few years back. The “Giant Mystery Eyeball,” as officials at the state’s Fish and Wildlife Reach Institute call it, washed up on a Florida beach two years ago Thursday.

Reports about the softball-sized peeper went viral as researchers worked to figure out just what kind of creature the big, blue eye came from.

The eye was eventually shipped to the institute’s St. Petersburg location where its mystery unraveled.

“Our researchers were the first to confirm that it belonged to a giant swordfish,” the institute was quick to point out on its Facebook page.

The eye was found on Pompano Beach by Gino Covacci back in October 2012, according to ABC news. Fully intact, the eye “was fresh,” ABC quoted Covacci as saying.

As for why the single eye washed up alone, St. Petersburg scientists also figured that out.

A fisherman removed and discarded it, ABC quoted the institute’s Joan Herrera as saying.

The eye now resides in a glass jar at the institute where it has since yellowed with time, the Facebook post stated.

Photo Credit: The giant eye/FWC Facebook