Yes, once there was a fish called a Rary. It was, indeed, rare, but what really made it interesting was its size. They disappeared in the 50's so only guys like Walter and I have had any experience with them, but let me tell you they made a whale shark look like a minnow!
So, it turns out that a dive boat off the Florida coast was out for the usual morning two-tanker about 50 years ago when the captain thought he saw a rather large wake. He scooted on over to the site of the wake and had all the divers suit up--in those days that didn't take much time since there was not a lot equipment used. As soon as they arrived over the site, the DM jumped in and the rest followed suit.
They did not get more than 20 ft down before they thought they were seeing the ocean floor moving. But, no, it was a Rary in all its glory. The DM had a speargun--that was the way of the world in those bygone days--and he took aim and got a clean shot into the Rary. Well, the DM and the divers all grabbed ahold of the gun and swam like hell to the boat.
When they got there with the gun,line and Rary in tow the captain helped them aboard and they all began tugging on the line to haul the Rary in. And they succeeded in getting it aboard; and it damn near covered the boat. In fact, it was completely covering the cabin! But, there was a law against killing Raries and they knew they had to head for the barn before the Coast Guard spotted them. However, their luck was not good that day and, sure enough, a Coast Guard cutter rounded the point just ahead.
They thought if they could dump the Rary back in the water, they would be in the clear. So they climbed up on the top deck of the cabin and tried to lift one side of the Rary up so it would slide into the water. But it was just too heavy and they could not do it.
The long and short of it was that the cutter's crew boarded them and they were both fined and jailed. However, that was not before the Captain of the cutter noted that he had seen them trying to dump the Rary back and he thought that it was nearly an impossible task because from the top of the cabin to the surface of the ocean is
"a long way to tip a Rary."
Joewr...hoping Walter will take the blame for this one, too....