By Mike Busch
On the way to new fishing spot off Westhampton on Captain Paul Peluso‘s boat the Mama Mia, we ran into one of the oddest looking fish in the sea, the Mola mola, or Ocean Sunfish.
With a dorsal fin that flaps out of the water, these can be mistaken for shark from a distance. Once you get closer it looks like a floating blob of flesh. Mola mola can grow over 10 feet long and to over 5000 pounds and are the world’s biggest bony fish. Their main diet is jelly fish but they will eat small fish and plankton as well.
Mola mola are considered vulnerable, and can get entangled in gill nets and can suffocate on sea trash like plastic bags that resemble jelly fish.
For in interesting article with more information click here.
If you want a laugh, check out the video on page 2 to see how a Boston fisherman handled his encounter with one of these guys.
More photos and video on page 2
