A rare glimpse into the world of the ocean sunfish

Sometimes I see a creature in the ocean and just think to myself, “go home evolution, you’re drunk”. This is certainly the case when I look at the ocean sunfish. The largest bony fish that inhabits the oceans also happens to be one of the most peculiar as well. The ocean sunfish, or mola mola, is characterised by incredibly elongated dorsal and anal fins, resulting in a swimming strategy quite unlike anything else in the ocean. They can weigh up to 1000kg, but feed almost exclusively on jellyfish.

It if often hard to get an appreciation for the scale of animals such as these from pictures, as the size of a sunfish next to a back drop of open ocean is tricky to gauge. In the video below, posted by Miguel Pereira, some lucky divers happen upon one of these peaceful ocean beasts, giving us all a rare glimpse into the life of these mysterious, gargantuan fish.