Huge ‘charismatic’ sea creatures end up in shallow water — and need help. See them
Wildlife volunteers in Massachusetts have rescued two large Mola mola stranded in harbors along the Cape Cod coast.
Volunteers with the New England Coastal Wildlife Alliance successfully rescued what they said was “one of the most beautiful” Mola mola, or ocean sunfish, they’ve seen this season from Onset Harbor, the organization’s president Carol “Krill” Carson said in a Nov. 18 Facebook post.
“The team was able to get the fish all the way to the Cape Cod Canal,” where it will swim south for warmer waters, the rescuers said.
Rescuers responded Nov. 24 to another sunfish stranded in the shallow water along the Provincetown shoreline, according to a New England Coastal Wildlife Alliance Facebook post.
With the help of the Provincetown Police Department, rescuers were able to drag the “big and feisty” sunfish out to deeper water, the organization said.
Strandings are becoming more frequent
As of Nov. 21, more than 120 mola, both dead and alive, have been reported stranded on the shores of New England, making 2024 the second-highest year on record for strandings since 2008, according to data published by the organization.
The group said climate change and warmer waters in the Gulf of Maine may be contributing to more frequent strandings.
“A warmer Gulf of Maine will attract more molas into our waters each summer,” the group said. “Higher numbers of sunfish off the Cape in the summer will lead to high numbers of stranded animals in the fall as they try to navigate around Cape Cod.”
The distribution and migratory patterns of mola in the Gulf of Maine is not widely understand, the group said.
Mola mola are ’curious’ and ’charismatic’
“This is a charismatic fish with lots of charm,” Carson told McClatchy News. “This is a very curious fish,” that will often go over to boats and spend time “people watching,” Carson added.
According to the New England Coastal Wildlife Alliance, “common molas are the heaviest bony fish in the world,” and can grow to lengths of six to 10 feet and weigh as much as four tons.”
“The average weight of ocean sunfish that strand off Cape Cod is 500 lbs,” but some have weighed more than 1300 lbs, Carson told McClatchy News.
Researchers believe the majority of the sunfish that strand on Cape Cod are juveniles, Carson said.
Strandings happen when they move to shallow tidal areas and become trapped as the tide goes out.
Because mola spend much of their time lying on their sides near the surface of the water, they are also susceptible to getting caught in gillnets, experts said.
’Misfit’ species in the rescue world
Carson told McClatchy News the New England Coastal Wildlife Alliance often refers to ocean sunfish as a “misfit” species because “no other organization will take them on.”
“Most are focused on other marine wildlife species and are working hard to protect those species,” Carson said. Additionally, “ocean sunfish are not protected in any way so there is no federal or state money associated with rescuing it,” Carson added.
Mola are not not considered threatened or endangered, Carson said.
The New England Coastal Wildlife Alliance is a nonprofit based in Massachusetts that “combines educational outreach with research and conservation activities to protect and rescue marine wildlife in the coastal waters of New England,” according to the organization’s site.
