Forklift used to carry sunfish/ photo taken by Department of Conservation.

A forklift was used to haul a dead sunfish onto a truck before it was taken to Auckland for tests.

New Zealand's department of conservation biodiversity manager Keith Hawkins told The Northern Advocate the sunfish was "a big fish" and "some people were interested to look at it".

The sunfish was spotted by a school group at Parua Bay in Whangarei district. According to the report, sunfish are the world's heaviest bony fish and can grow up to 2,300kg.