Another massive Mola mola (sunfish) has washed up on the Oregon Coast, marking the 3rd dead sunfish the region has seen since June. (Photos via Seaside Aquarium)
OREGON COAST, Ore. — Another massive Mola mola (sunfish) washed up on the Oregon Coast, marking the third dead sunfish the region has seen since June.
The Seaside Aquarium said the Mola mola washed ashore at Hug Point State Park, and has been dead for quite some time.
The fish is 6.9 feet long, which the aquarium said is the average size for sunfish in the area. However, some Mola mola can get up to 10 feet long and weigh up to 5,000 pounds.
Three sunfish have washed ashore since June in Clatsop County: two were ocean sunfish (Mola mola) and the otherwas a hoodwinker sunfish (Mola tecta).
The Seaside Aquarium explained it’s not unusual for these fish to wash ashore, as they do live off the Oregon Coast and feed off of jellyfish in the waters, which are in huge abundance this year.
Seaside Aquarium said that there has been a large community stir around the sunfish, although the strandings aren’t always a cause for concern.
“We are getting more reports because of the stir that the Mola tecta caused when it washed in (it was the first Mola tecta documented in Oregon but that is likely because it has just recently been described and designated as a new species). People are aware that we are interested in documenting these strandings and collecting information from them,” theSeaside Aquarium said.
