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So this washed up on my beach today...
Posted: Sun Nov 15, 2020 7:31 pm
by Nwbrewer
This (sadly deceased) Mola Mola drifted up on the beach in front of my place near Shelton. We saw a live one a few years ago, but nowhere near this large!
Mola Mola with 5' 2" child for scale.
Re: So this washed up on my beach today...
Posted: Sun Nov 15, 2020 10:18 pm
by RoxnDox
Very sad to see it dead, for sure.
Very surprised to see it anywhere in the Sound, let alone all the way down by Shelton! Never heard of one in here...
Re: So this washed up on my beach today...
Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2020 7:23 am
by Penopolypants
What a sad yet fascinating sight!
Every few years a live one will be spotted at Redondo in the summer. Lost? Or on an adventure?
Re: So this washed up on my beach today...
Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2020 8:24 am
by 60south
Oh no!
Diving with a live one is near the top of my bucket list. Can we set up a mola mola emergency text hotline for sightings?
Re: So this washed up on my beach today...
Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2020 12:26 pm
by YellowEye
Nice find nevertheless! Any sign of how it died?
Did you get to swim with the live one you saw?
Re: So this washed up on my beach today...
Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2020 1:18 pm
by Nwbrewer
YellowEye wrote: ↑Mon Nov 16, 2020 12:26 pm
Nice find nevertheless! Any sign of how it died?
Did you get to swim with the live one you saw?
No there were no marks on it as far as I could see, but I couldn't exactly flip it over...
I did not get to swim with the live one, it was cold and I didn't have my drysuit handy. Interestingly it was within 10feet of where we found this one, just separated by a few years.
Re: So this washed up on my beach today...
Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2020 7:39 pm
by oldsalt
Jim Lynch wrote a novel about unusual critters washing up on the beach in South Sound. It's titled "The Highest Tide". A good read. I'm really old, and have been playing in the sound for over 60 years, and have never seen a sunfish in the sound. I've seen many off the coast, the last time October 4th. That is a really interesting find. Thank you for posting.
-Curt
Re: So this washed up on my beach today...
Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2021 5:04 pm
by oystercove_Matt
we had to drag it off the beach because it started to stink. but this is a 500LB fish and we had to drag it out with a 6 horse motor (it took 1hr to get rid of wish i had pictures)
Re: So this washed up on my beach today...
Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2021 2:42 am
by YellowEye
Hi!
There's been a recent finding that there are actually two species of Mola in the NE Pacific Ocean - Mola mola AND Mola tecta! They are looking for reports (even old sightings), see this thread for info:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=28263#p297389
Re: So this washed up on my beach today...
Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2021 8:35 pm
by nwscubamom
oldsalt wrote: ↑Fri Nov 20, 2020 7:39 pm
Jim Lynch wrote a novel about unusual critters washing up on the beach in South Sound. It's titled "The Highest Tide". A good read. I'm really old, and have been playing in the sound for over 60 years, and have never seen a sunfish in the sound. I've seen many off the coast, the last time October 4th. That is a really interesting find. Thank you for posting.
-Curt
Thanks for the info on the book! I just ordered it. It has great ratings.
- Janna