RALPH ON A FLORIDA BEACH

Richard Muirhead telephoned me this morning with this story, which made me laugh so much that I cried. In fact it provoked a joke about The Residents that also made me laugh so much at my extreme wittiness that I cried. If you don't understand click here...

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Associated Press

This Thursday, Oct. 11, 2012 photo made available by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission shows a giant eyeball from a mysterious sea creature that washed ashore and was found by a man walking the beach in Pompano Beach, Fla. on Wednesday. No one knows what species the huge blue eyeball came from. The eyeball will be sent to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg, FL. (AP Photo/Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Carli Segelson)

MIAMI — Word that a giant eyeball washed up on a South Florida beach has created a buzz on the Internet and in the marine biology community.

The huge, blue eyeball may have come from a deep sea squid or a large sword fish, said Heather Bracken-Grissom, an assistant professor in the marine science program at Florida International University in Miami.

A man found the eyeball while taking a morning stroll along Pompano Beach just north of Fort Lauderdale. He contacted state wildlife officials, who took possession of the softball-sized eyeball.

As soon as pictures hit the Internet on Thursday, Bracken-Grissom said she started talking with her colleagues.

"Any time something weird and crazy washes up on the beach, it's definitely interesting," she said.

The professor and her colleagues concluded that the eyeball's lens and pupil are similar in shape to that of a deep sea squid. She noted that a deep sea squid's eyeball can be as large as a soccer ball and can easily become dislodged.