PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A boater experienced a mola mola (ocean sunfish) sighting off the coast of Pacific City on Sunday.
Oregon Coast resident CJ Reid Hindman told KOIN 6 News that she was fishing a half-mile past Chief Kiawanda Rock near Cape Kiwanda State Natural Area when she took these photos of the fish bobbing around the water’s surface.
“It was so fun to see them,” Hindman said. “It’s been two years since we have seen [any mola mola in the area].”
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife fisheries manager Lynn Mattes said that mola mola are more common along the Oregon Coast in the summer when the water is warmer. The unusual creatures can weigh as much as 5,000 pounds and are the world’s heaviest bony fish.
While mola mola can grow up to 10 feet long and 14 feet tall, Mattes said the fish are smaller than a pea when they hatch.
“Mola mola look like someone got bored partway through making a fish and forgot to finish the back half,” Mattes said. “They are missing the typical tail structure found in most other species of fish.”
Mola molas are often seen sunbathing near the surface and use their elongated dorsal and pectoral fins to putter through the water. The slimy animals mostly survive on a diet of jellyfish, making them unappetizing to humans.
“Neither recreational anglers nor commercial fisheries target molas, even with their large size,” Mattes said. “Due to their jellyfish diet, the flesh is very gelatinous and not appetizing to humans.”
Hindman said that the photos show what appeared to be two different mola molas swimming on opposite ends of Chief Kiwanda Rock. However, she couldn’t say for certain that the fish were different.
“The first fish [photographed] swimming flat was larger than the other, so I think it was two different [molas],” she said.
