Mola Mola

[mark99]

I shot this video with my canon powershot camera in video mode last weekend at Catalina off Goat Harbor. This is the first time I've seen a Mola diving at the island.

YouTube - Mola Mola at Catalina Island

Mark

 

[Ann Marie]

Very cool!! I've always hoped to see a Mola Mola!

 

[drbill]

I've seen a few over the last couple of years, but it is my feeling (not scientifically verified) that I used to see a lot more of them in our waters in the late 60's through the late 70's. They sure are interesting when you encounter them. I filmed a halfmoon cleaning one on a safety stop at Little Farnsworth last year.

 

[OceanObsessed]

Cool video!

I saw 2 mola mola on the surface when we were offshore fishing back in the late 70's. Unfortunately I did not have my camera with me.

 

[drbill]

I forgot, here are two of my newspaper columns about the Mola mola:

Ocean sunfish

Take It to the Cleaners

Hope you enjoy them!

 

[spt29970]

I saw Mola Mola on two separate occasions last year at the Channel Islands. The first time was mid-summer at Santa Cruz. The water was very green and I saw a very strange fish in the gloom. When I got closer, I saw that it was a juvenile Mola Mola, but it looked odd. I realized that it was because it was missing his dorsal and ventral fins! Then a sea lion buzzed me (and him) and I realized that the sea lions had been harassing the poor thing. He was dead in the water and was clearly not long for this world. I got the image below.

The second time I saw one was in Fall at Arch Rock on Anacapa. The water was completely flat and we were diving the outside of the rock. This one was a full adult. There were sealions around but they left him alone. I didn't have my camera, but it was a pretty amazing sight since he came within a few feet of us.

Sealion Attacks Mola: (Click for more details)

 

[drbill]

Yes, sea lions seem to love to bite the fins off Mola molas... definitely not one of their endearing traits.

 

[JMdiver]

I saw one last year at Anacapa & thought it was a turtle cause I saw it at a distance then on my SI it swam by the boat & I realized what it was & it was swimming with a school of fish (?).

John

 

[OceanObsessed]

Sealion Attacks Mola: (Click for more details)

That's a very cool picture Steve. You can see the determination in the sea lions eyes.

 

[spt29970]

This is one of my favorite "action" shots. I like images to tell a story and this one really does. You can see that to the sea lion this is just a game, but the poor Mola isn't having any fun. It just goes to show that you never know how a dive is going to turn out. This was on a 2 day trip with a bunch of friends. After we got back on the boat everyone was complaining about the poor vis and I was complaining about how I had to come back up because I was running low on air!