Giant Eyeball Mystery: Scientists Working to Identify Mystery Creature in Florida Beach

Eyes are drawn to the beautiful beaches of Florida, but now they're literally washing up from sea.

A giant eyeball washed onto the shore of a Florida beach causing the internet to buzz with sea monster talk.

NBC reported the strange eye was found by a beachcomber at Pompano Beach on Wednesday. The person that found it decided to give the eye to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

So what creature did the softball-sized eye come from?

The Florida beach eye resembles those found on giant squids which the Smithsonian has for display.

The eye was put on ice and officials sent to it to St. Petersburg, Fla., in order to be examined by the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute. According to Carli Segelson, a spokesperson for the scientists conducting the examination, genetic testing is going to be applied to find out what creature the eye belongs to.

Segelson told NBC, "The primary suspect right now is that it would be a large fish."

National Geographic interviewed marine biologist Robert L. Pitman for the National Marine Fisheries Service in La Jolla, Calif. In Pitman's opinion: "It probably is a squid eye - other things with eyes that big (fish, cetaceans) have them imbedded in hard tissue. Squid eyes are in relatively soft tissue and more likely to dislodge as in the photo you sent. A quick DNA analysis could easily sort it out for you."

The reason Segelson said it might be a fish eye is that "there appears to be bones around the eye, so that would rule out a squid."

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission continue their genetic tests and hope to have preliminary results later today.