In the hopes of uncovering new information about the sunfish that washed ashore, the researchers decided to upload the photos of the fish on iNaturalist. The website iNaturalist is a valuable resource for scientists and nature enthusiasts alike as it compiles a vast collection of photos of plants and animals that are uploaded by users from all around the world. So if anyone on the internet would know the answer, the person must be on this site. To their surprise, the researchers received a response from a fish scientist from the South Australia Museum who was able to give them incredible new information that they had not previously known, which left one marine scientist overjoyed and excited at the discovery.
When a fish scientist from the South Australia Museum contacted Marianne Nyegaard (left) through email and informed her that the fish washed ashore in California was a hoodwinker sunfish, she was overjoyed. The hoodwinker sunfish was a species that Marianne had discovered in 2017 after years of extensive research. The discovery of this fish in California was particularly astounding as it was the first time that a fish of this species had ever been found on a shore in North America. The hoodwinker sunfish was believed to be native only to Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and Chile.