
Holy Mola! Massive sunfish rescued near Bay of Fundy
CTV
It was a memorable day for many near the Bay of Fundy Monday when a Mola mola found its way to the Parrsboro Harbour in Nova Scotia.
It was a memorable day for many near the Bay of Fundy Monday when a Mola mola found its way to the Parrsboro Harbour in Nova Scotia.
The massive fish, more commonly known as an ocean sunfish, was spotted around 8 a.m. near the Aboiteau. The ocean sunfish is one of the largest bony fish in the world.
"They're so-called sunfish because they bask at the water's surface," said Danielle Serratos, director and curator for the Fundy Geological Museum.
"They look kind of funky when they do that because they're basically on their side, and so what people think of as their swimming fin is actually the dorsal or the top fin of their body, and when it's flopping in the water, it can commonly be mistaken for a shark fin."
The museum is located very close to where the fish showed up, and at first it seemed fine.
"Initially, a lot of us were kind of observing it. Myself and the museum staff and a bunch of fisher folk in the area were kind of keeping an eye on it, and we had some different opinions about what was going on,” Serratos said.
Eventually, Serratos said she hopped into her kayak to get a closer look to see if it was OK.