We spotted an object floating in the water, and went to investigate:
From this distance, it is hard to make out. It was about the size of a small garbage can lid.
A naturalist once saw something very similar to this in the kelp forest and got very excited. "White Shark!" was the call heard on the radio, but alas, it was not a White Shark. So what was it?
It was a Mola mola, the awkward Ocean Sunfish, a ferocious predator of jellies, larval animals floating around as plankton, and perhaps seaweed and eel grass.
For some reason, my camera has been drawn towards this largest of bony fishes in different places. I am not the only one who likes the mola- I think it's the most popular fish in the aquarium. The big mola in the Outer Bay Exhibit, the one that weighs over 1000 pounds, has been given so many names by little children and smitten adults alike. If you were to tally the names, "big fish" would likely be the most common, followed by "ugly fish". I like to call it "Bob".
