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Sand dollar found off Florida coast could be world's largest

A diver on Capt. Zach Johnson's charter boat in Florida found a large sand dollar that could be a new Guinness World Record. Photo by mosaikweb/Pixabay.com
A diver on Capt. Zach Johnson's charter boat in Florida found a large sand dollar that could be a new Guinness World Record. Photo by mosaikweb/Pixabay.com

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Oct. 19 (UPI) -- The captain of a charter boat in Florida said one of his customers found a giant sand dollar that might be a new Guinness World Record.

Zach Johnson, who captains a boat for the Panama City Dive Center, said he and his passengers were diving at the Hovercraft Reef, about 5 miles offshore, when one of the divers surfaced with an unusually large sand dollar.

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"We've seen some big ones. I saw one that was about 6.3 inches earlier this year, but when we saw this one, I knew it was a special one," Johnson told WJHG-TV.

Johnson said the sand dollar measures just under 7 inches across, so it could potentially unseat the current world record holder, which measures 6.49 inches in diameter.

"I've been keeping up with the world record and we were very excited about it. He did not know what he had and he was very, very excited to find one that big," Johnson said.

Johnson said the sand dollar's size is being submitted to Guinness for official recognition.

"I had the customer, he submitted it to the Guinness Book of World Records. Hopefully, they'll come down and send a person to check it out and it'll be an official record," Johnson said.

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"So right now, it's unofficially the largest sand dollar in the world. So, I told him to take very good care of that sand dollar before they verify it and make sure he doesn't break it."

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