Rare Massive Ocean Creature Spotted Along West Coast, Challenging Theories

By: Alyssa Miller | Last updated: Jul 10, 2024

On June 24, surfers at Cowell Beach in Santa Cruz experienced a rare and startling encounter.

While accustomed to sharing the waves with otters and the occasional shark, this time it was a massive sunfish that captured their attention. The sighting was both thrilling and a little intimidating for those in the water.

Surfing with the Sea Creatures

While surfers are used to dolphins riding waves with them, aggressive sea otters chasing them out of the water, and white sharks rising to the surface with a toothy hello, a far more enigmatic and elusive creature appeared.

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Surfer Sliding on Wave and Touching Ocean

Source: Glen Chapman/Pexels

Due to how rare it is to see this giant creature, surfers in Santa Cruz were alarmed to see the dorsal fin emerge from the waves.

Captured on Camera

Santa Cruz resident Eric Mendelson captured remarkable photos of the sunfish from a nearby bluff.

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mola mola sunfish swimming

Source: Per-Ola Norman/Wikimedia Commons

One photo shows a dorsal fin resembling that of a shark, while another reveals the creature’s unique head and large eye. These images quickly garnered attention on social media, surprising many locals.

What is a Sunfish?

Sunfish, particularly the Mola mola species, are the heaviest bony fish in the world. They can weigh over 6,000 pounds and grow longer than 10 feet.

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mola mola sunfish swimming

Source: Fred Hsu/Wikimedia Commons

Their distinctive appearance includes oversized heads and flat bodies, often described as looking like a child’s drawing of a fish come to life.

The Unique Shape of Sunfish

According to National Geographic, the fish obtains its unique shape because of their back fin, which stops growing after birth. At some point in their lives, the fin folds into itself, creating a stumpy rudder called a clavus.

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Scuba diving Bali Nusa Lembongan (mola mola), Ocean sunfish (mola-mola) off Nusa Lembongan, Bali

Source: Ilse Reijs and Jan-Noud Hutten/Flickr

The colossal bony fish can easily be mistaken for a shark because their huge dorsal fins similarly emerge above the water. But who hasn’t mistaken a dolphin (or sunfish in this case) for a shark?

Expert Insights

Marine biologist Tierney Thys, a research associate at the California Academy of Sciences, identified the creature in Mendelson’s photos.

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Underwater Photography of Fish

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She noted its impressive size and confirmed it as a Mola mola, the most common sunfish species in the area. Thys, known affectionately as “Mrs. Sunfish,” has extensive knowledge of these fascinating creatures.

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The History of the Sunfish

Mola emerged between 45 million and 35 million years ago. Thys tells the Smithsonian that a group of puffer fishers (built like little tanks) left coral reefs for the open ocean. Over time, their bodies became progressively more “abridged,” but never streamlined like other deep-sea fish.

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A sunfish basking in the sunlight in the ocean

Source: Alan Grinberg/Flickr

“You can only divorce yourself from your bloodlines so much,” says Thys. “If your grandmother had a big bottom and your mother had a big bottom, you are most likely going to have a big bottom. There is not much you can do!”

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Little Is Known About the Fish

While the sunfish is visually arresting, the fish is a bit of a mystery to researchers across the world. Little is known about its biology and behavior. However, This is trying to change this.

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A woman is pictured reading a book

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She became invested in the mola in the early 1990s when she came across a photo of one while doing graduate work in fish biomechanics at Duke University. While most forms of fish give way to its function, the mola’s form is a mystery.

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Sunfish Are Honored in Japan

While Thy works hard to study and tag molas in California, she occasionally works with Kamogawa Sea World in Japan, which is the leader in exhibiting molas.

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A sunfish in a large tnk in Sunshine international aquarium, Tokyo, Japan

Source: pelican/Flickr

Historically, Japan holds the fish, known as manbou, in high regard. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the fish was given to shoguns in the form of tax payments.

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Common Visitors to Santa Cruz

While this sighting was a first for Mendelson, Thys explained that Mola mola are actually common in the Santa Cruz area.

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beach with kite surfer's help SOS in rocks

Source: CAL FIRE CZU San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit/Facebook

Increased sightings may be linked to the phasing out of California’s drift gill net fishery, which previously ensnared many sunfish as bycatch. This change has likely allowed more sunfish to thrive.

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Role in the Ecosystem

Sunfish play a crucial role in the ocean food web. As they grow larger, they primarily forage for jellyfish, helping to keep the jellyfish population in check.

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jellyfish in ocean

Source: Llywelyn2000/Wikimedia Commons

Their presence is vital for maintaining the balance of marine ecosystems, particularly in nutrient-rich areas like Monterey Bay.

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No Need for Alarm

Despite their large size and unusual appearance, Mola mola are docile creatures. Surfers at Cowell Beach had no reason to worry, as these gentle giants pose no threat to humans.

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An image of a surfer as he looks out to the ocean's horizon

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Their diet consists mainly of jellyfish, making them harmless to people enjoying the waves.

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Why Sunfish Are Emerging to the Surface 

It’s unclear if warming ocean temperatures due to climate change are also a factor in why Mola mola are coming closer to the California coast. However, surfers (and other beachgoers) don’t need to be afraid of these docile creatures.

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Underwater Photography of Ocean

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Mola mola prefer temperate and tropical waters and spend most of their lives submerged. When they do come up to the surface, they are often on their sides, using the sun’s heat to recharge themselves before going back under to feed.

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Peak Viewing Times

If you’re eager to spot a Mola mola, the prime time is between October and November, according to Thys.

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A lone scuba diver is immersed in the vast blue expanse of the ocean. The diver, equipped with a large tank, fins, and a dive mask, is oriented diagonally in the frame

Source: Bobbi Wu/Unsplash

During these months, sunfish are most frequently seen off the California coast. Monterey Bay, with its nutrient upwelling and submarine canyon, is a prime location for observing these fascinating creatures.

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The Increasing Number of Sunfish

The number of Mola mola near the California coast is unknown. While commercial fishermen have phased out by catching, the sunfish has become a food source for some aquatic life.

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beach with kite surfer's help SOS in rocks

Source: CAL FIRE CZU San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit/Facebook

While adults are too large to be threatened by any animals other than the largest potential predators, the medium-sized Mola mola are eaten by sea lions, killer whales, and large sharks. California sea lions often bite the fins off smaller Mola mola and play with them like frisbees, according to Oceana.

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A Thriving Marine Sanctuary

Cowell Beach is part of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, a hotspot for marine biodiversity.

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Light shines on the bottom of an area of water.

Source: Yannis Papanastasopulos/Unsplash

This protected area supports a wide range of marine life, from playful otters to majestic sunfish. The sanctuary’s rich ecosystem is a treasure for both scientists and nature enthusiasts.

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Community Reactions

Mendelson’s photos sparked a wave of excitement on social media, with many expressing awe at the size and uniqueness of the sunfish.

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A phtotogrpah of a smartphone screen which displays social media icons

Source: Wikimedia

For longtime residents and newcomers alike, the sighting was a reminder of the diverse and surprising marine life just off their shores.

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The Largest Sunfish Discovered

Sunfish have been making headlines after a rare 7-footer washed onto Oregon’s coast. The sunfish appeared on the beach in Gearheart in early June and remained on the beach for a few weeks.

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Huge ocean sunfish (Mola mola) at Outer Bay exhibit, Monterey Bay Aquarium, California.

Source: Fred Hsu/Wikimedia Commons

The fish is difficult for scavengers to take as a meal since the tough skin of the fish is incredibly hard to puncture through.

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Multiple Varieties of Sunfish

What makes this sunfish stand out, besides its incredible size, is that it is a rare variety of sunfish known as a hoodwinker sunfish. New Zealand-based researcher, Marianne Nyegaard, believed it may be the largest fish ever sampled, according to the Associated Press.

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Hoodwinker sunfish swimming in the ocean in Chile

Source: Explorasub/Wikimedia Commons

Nyegaard has researched the variety of sunfish, known as Mola tecta (“tecta” in Latin means hidden or disguised), since 2017. Her research discovered that there were varieties of sunfish like the Mola tecta.

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The Other Variety

The other variety of ocean sunshift includes the bump-head sunfish or the Mola alexandrini. Similar to the Mola mola and Mola tecta, all three species can grow about 11 feet in length and weigh up to 2.3 tons, according to the American Museum of Natural History.

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Mola alexandrini, senior synonym of Mola ramsayi, i.e., Bump head sunfish or southern sunfish. Bump seen in the picture is not present in all the specimens but a common identification is in scalloped clavus , round and bumped forehead and chin

Source: Erik van der Goot/Wikimedia Commons

The ocean sunfish and bump-head sunfish can be found across the world in temperate and tropical oceans, but the hoodwinker sunfish was thought to only be in the southern hemisphere.

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Quotes from the Expert

Thys emphasizes the importance of the Mola mola in the ocean ecosystem, stating, “Ocean sunfish play a vital role in the ocean food web, particularly when they get over one meter in length.”

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Close-up Photo of Water

Source: Emiliano Arano/Pexels

Her insights highlight the significance of these creatures beyond their unusual appearance.

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Challenging Theories About the Species 

This isn’t the first time that Mola mola or Mola tecta have washed ashore on the West Coast. In 2019, a hoodwinker sunfish washed ashore on the California coast.

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Students pictured aboard a research vessel stationed at sea

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Since then, a few more sunfish have washed ashore in California and Alaska, challenging the theory that the fish only lives in the southern hemisphere.

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Appreciating Ocean Giants

As Thys eloquently put it, “How lucky are we here in Monterey Bay to be able to jump on a surfboard, a paddle board, or a kayak… and enter this teeming world of mysterious giants?”

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School of Fish in Water

Source: Hung Tran/Pexels

The presence of the Mola mola is a prime example of the rich marine life that thrives in these waters, offering endless opportunities for discovery.

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Report Your Sunfish Sightings 

Thys runs a website that serves as an information hub on the species. She asks that citizen scientists or anyone who spots one of the fish in the wild to report their sightings.

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An image of a surfer as he looks out to the ocean's horizon

Source: Freepik

“Nearly every day I have people reporting,” says Thys. Molas have been seen north of the Arctic Circle and as far south as Chile and Australia. “I just got a report from Mozambique,” she says. “I would love to go to Mozambique.”

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