Mola Mola Off Catalina

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The Mola Mola is one of the funniest looking fish in the sea.  They are the heaviest bony fish in the world—capable of reaching 5,000 pounds. You never know when you are going to stumble across one when you are crossing the channel from Newport Beach to Catalina Island.  I’ve seen seals, dolphins, sharks, all types of fish, and I’ve even almost been run over by the Catalina Flyer but no other experience is quite as interesting and downright strange as running into a Mola Mola.  I’ve seen them a total of 3 times crossing the channel (twice on my catamaran and once on a dive boat) and each time has been a little bit different.  Even on a slow approach you have to give them plenty of space or they’ll disappear very quickly.  I wasn’t quick enough to grab a video camera the first sighting but here is the second sighting when sailing back from Catalina:

Here’s a nice great pic so you get an idea of how strange they look:

 

So the goal next time I see that slow and odd moving fin just inches out of the water I’ll do what I can to throw on some fins and see what I can get with a GoPro.  Keep your eyes open for them!

Here’s some more information from a great post on Oceana: Creature Feature: Ocean Sunfish