Five Foot Ocean Sunfish in Wellfleet Harbor
Turtle Journal visited Chipman’s Cove in Wellfleet on Outer Cape Cod this morning.  Parking at the end of Old Pier Road, we found a fairly fresh ocean sunfish carcass about 25 feet to the right/north of the Town Landing.
Ocean Sunfish Snout, Mouth, Eye, Gills and Pectoral Fin
Using Don’s sneakers as a gross ruler, this sunfish measured ~ 5 feet long and ~ 6 feet wide/high.
 
Seven Foot Ocean Sunfish in Chipman’s Cove
Fifty feet to the left/south of the Old Pier Town Landing, we discovered a rapidly decomposing ocean sunfish. Gross measurements yielded a length of ~ 7 feet and a width/height of 7.5 feet.
Click Here to View Video in High Quality
Two Giant Ocean Sunfish Strand in Chipman’s Cove
The video documents the two ocean sunfish Turtle Journal discovered in Wellfleet’s Chipman’s Cove today.
Partially Necropsied Ocean Sunfish on Lieutenant Island
Our next stop was the west shore of Lieutenant Island to check out a reported ocean sunfish that had stranded last weekend. This specimen had been partially necropsied to ascertain its gender … before an astronomic 12-foot tide could strand the team on the island.
Pilot Whale Bones Emerge from Old Salt Marsh
About 100 yards north of the stranded sunfish, winter tides have eroded the beach on the west shore of Lieutenant Island, once again exposing pilot whale bones from the peet of a long dead salt marsh. Last year we found four pilot whale skeletons in this area before summer sands raised the beach level above this burial site. See Discovery of Historic Pilot Whale Bones Hints at Cape Cod’s Past.
Exposed Pilot Whale Bones on Lieutenant Island
With giant ocean sunfish and pilot whales, Turtle Journal had a BIG day this Thursday.Â
Yet, there was still more to come. CapeCast, the broadcast vehicle of the Cape Cod Times, published a delightfully hilarious and informative video on the large ocean sunfish that Turtle Journal discovered this weeked at Corporation Beach in Dennis. See Ocean Sunfish Strandings Continue on Cape Cod.Â
Click here or on the picture above to watch the CapeCast video … and ENJOY!