PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A large ocean sunfish, measuring over six feet long, recently washed ashore on the Oregon Coast, according to the Seaside Aquarium.
The fish – also known as a Mola mola – washed ashore about a quarter-mile south of Sunset Beach, just north of Seaside.
While this mola mola measured 6.5 feet, the aquarium said they can reach to lengths over 8 feet long and weigh up to 5,000 pounds.
Other sunfish sightings along the Oregon Coast were previously confirmed by the Seaside Aquarium last summer.
Two of them were Mola mola – an ocean sunfish – and one was a Mola tecta, a hoodwinker sunfish found on Gearhart Beach. The latter caused a stir because it was the first one to wash up in Oregon and only designated as a species in 2017.
The most noticeable difference between the mola mola and the newer species documented at Gearhart Beach is the T-shared pattern near the tailfin of the Mola tecta.
Further, the aquarium said Mola tectas also do not get quite as big as the Mola mola, reaching just under 8 feet and weighing 4,000 pounds.
Both species of sunfish can be found all over the world – except for the polar regions – and are capable of traveling as far as 17 miles in a single day, the aquarium noted.
