mola mola (sun fish)

[divingmoose]

help me !
After a dive last year in the south coast of NewFoundland we spotted a
14 ft sun fish in a harbour it swam around for about 20 min. then swam off to the open sea. My Brother inlaw a (fishermen) was not surprized but we were, He says he sees them once in a while. All the information I've found says this fish is a southern atlantic, southern hemishere fish and not native to the cold waters of the the north Atlantic. I missed diving with them again this Year, my sister inlaw called two days after we got home from our 5 week holiday there.told us the big bugger was back in the harbour and just out side of it for about 1 hour.
Any information on them in the north or any thing else Would be great.
I am headed back there mid aug.next year I would really freak if I could dive with these big guys

 

[LittleOne]

I don't have much information on these guys but I've been dying to see one. Ever since my cousin showed me a picture of one I've been crazy for them!

 

[vladimir]

From here:

Fish: sunfish (Mola mola, Masturus lanceolatus, Ranzania laevis) : Characteristics, behavior, ecology, habitat, range, biology, photos of the ocean sunfish

Sunfishes are found in all oceans in tropical and temperate climes, but prefer open ocean.

I think Bali offers the most reliable sightings. That said, I have at least a half-dozen dive trips to Bali without having seen one yet.

 

[drbill]

They certainly are very interesting fish. The first time I saw one "in the wild" I was leaning over the swimstep of our research boat. I saw this large head coming directly at me and thought it was a great white shark until it got closer!

We don't see them often here, but you can read my columns (#60 and #257) on them by clicking on those links.

 

[drbill]

Somehow this got posted twice... sorry.

 

[Jackie Cousteau]

About 11 years ago, my husband and I were diving in off the coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, and at the end of the dive doing our safety stop, an eight to ten foot Mola Mola approached the divers, and stayed with us as long as we were in the water. We ended up doing a 40 minute safety stop, and didn't want to leave. The Mola Mola was extremely curious and friendly, and even allowed the divers to touch him/her. We were drysuit diving, and water temperatures were 10c (52f). The dive master thought that it must have come over in a strong current from Japan, as it definitely did not belong in Johnstone Straight. It was really amazing and one of our most memorable dives.

 

[ApexLongimanus]

i saw one in new jersey waters two years ago. water tems were ~50 dF on the surface. unfortunately, it was after finishing the dive, i.e. no underwater encounter...

 

[scubaman5000]

As Dr. Bill said we have these here in Southern California. Not too long ago I was doing a dive out at Anacapa Island and found a dead baby mola mola lying on the bottom. The body was in pretty decent condition. It was about 1.5 to 2 feet long or so. Really strange looking fish. On this same trip we spotted several of them at the surface on our way back to the mainland.

 

[Vie]

Any information on them in the north or any thing else Would be great.

Lots of info here: Ocean Sunfish

 

[divingmoose]

thanks I just found the same site yesterday & I posted my sighting