{"id":3418,"date":"2009-11-04T20:50:35","date_gmt":"2009-11-05T01:50:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=3418"},"modified":"2010-01-16T10:28:48","modified_gmt":"2010-01-16T15:28:48","slug":"ocean-sunfish-washes-ashore-in-wellfleet-harbor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=3418","title":{"rendered":"Ocean Sunfish Washes Ashore in Wellfleet Harbor"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Sue Wieber Nourse and Ocean Sunfish (Mola mola)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Turtle Journal Team searched Chipman’s Cove in Wellfleet Harbor on Outer Cape Cod this morning for a reported ocean sunfish.\u00c2\u00a0 We received a call on our 24\/7 hotline (508-274-5108<\/strong>) Monday from a part-time resident who had observed a large, strange fish that had washed ashore with the Hunter Moon tide on Saturday.\u00c2\u00a0 The observer said that he identified the critter as an ocean sunfish based on the photographic posting in the Turtle Journal.\u00c2\u00a0 Today, November 4th, marked the first time we had an opportunity to visit the site to confirm the identification and to see if this Mola mola<\/em> had moved with the tides.\u00c2\u00a0 To quote Bob Prescott of Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary<\/a>, “Even though it’s dead, it keeps moving around.”<\/p>\n

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6’1″\u00c2\u00a0from Tip of Dorsal Fin to Tip of Anal Fin<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Ocean sunfish represent the most massive bony fish in the world.\u00c2\u00a0 For more detailed information, you may wish to read Exotic Ocean Sunfish (Mola mola)<\/a> published on Turtle Journal last year at this time.\u00c2\u00a0 The specimen we found at the leading edge of today’s incoming flood tide measured more than a foot smaller in length and width than the several 7 footers we discovered last November.\u00c2\u00a0 Stretching the tape for a straight-line measurement from the tip of the dorsal fin to the tip of the anal fin, we recorded a width (or height) of\u00c2\u00a06 feet\u00c2\u00a01 inch.<\/p>\n

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5’10.5″ from Snout to Clavus (Caudal Fin)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Measuring from tip of the snout to the trailing edge of the clavus or caudal fin, we got a length of 5 feet 10.5 inches.<\/p>\n

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Pectoral Fin, Gill Slits, Sunken Eye and Mouth with Fused Teeth<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

From the state of the carcass, this ocean sunfish has been floating around the harbor for some time in water too warm to preserve it from rapid decomposition.<\/p>\n

\"34625726\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Ocean Sunfish off Lieutenant Island in Early October<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

If you follow the Turtle Journal Team adventures\u00c2\u00a0on Twitter (http:\/\/twitter.com\/turtlejournal<\/a>), you would have read of our discovery of an earlier ocean sunfish off Lieutenant Island on October 7th.\u00c2\u00a0 We posted a tweet and\u00c2\u00a0a cellphone\u00c2\u00a0picture (see above) of a badly decomposed\u00c2\u00a0Mola mola<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0carcass off Plover Point (northwest corner of the island).\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

Turtle Journal\u00c2\u00a0tweets live events from the field on Twitter to keep you aware of what’s happening on Cape Cod while it’s still happening.\u00c2\u00a0 You may wish to tune in to our tweets, especially during the sea turtle stranding season, which should begin with a fury during the next storm wave that\u00c2\u00a0strikes the Outer Cape.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Twitter\u00c2\u00a0affords you\u00c2\u00a0the chance to adventure out in the wild with us during the rawest, most dangerous conditions\u00c2\u00a0while still in\u00c2\u00a0the comfort and relative safety of your computer screen.<\/p>\n

\"Share<\/a><\/p>\n

Today’s Tweet of Ocean Sunfish from the Field<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Turtle Journal\u00c2\u00a0Team tweets (http:\/\/twitter.com\/turtlejournal<\/a>) live reports and quick snapshots from the field.\u00c2\u00a0 Turtle Journal posts (www.turtlejournal.com<\/a>) detailed stories, high quality photographs and videos of the events.\u00c2\u00a0 Two ways you can\u00c2\u00a0join the Turtle Journal Team and our adventures.\u00c2\u00a0 The third and most important way you can participate\u00c2\u00a0is to call us through the hotline (508-274-5108<\/strong>) with sighting reports and rescue opportunities.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Only with\u00c2\u00a0a large cadre of partners with eyes and ears on nature from the SouthCoast to the tip of Cape Cod can we\u00c2\u00a0document what’s happening and continue to “save the world, one species at a time.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sue Wieber Nourse and Ocean Sunfish (Mola mola) The Turtle Journal Team searched Chipman’s Cove in Wellfleet Harbor on Outer Cape Cod this morning for a reported ocean sunfish.\u00c2\u00a0 We received a call on our 24\/7 hotline (508-274-5108) Monday from a part-time resident who had observed a large, strange fish that had washed ashore with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[824],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3418"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3418"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3418\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3431,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3418\/revisions\/3431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}