First Orcas, now Beware the Sunfish

[BruceK]

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07...ld-have-taken-out-xavier-doerr-boat/102582964

 

[Dirk01]

This is really funny ...
... the sunfish is called in German "Mondfisch". But "Mondfisch" tranlates into "moonfish" (which is felt to be exactly the opposite).

A sunfish (opah) (in German Sonnenfisch) is a type of god salmon.

How confusing that can be

 

[twistedtree]

Not surprised. I have come close to hitting them before - perhaps even have. They are big, slow, and loaf around at the surface.

 

[Dirk01]

I've seen a "moonfish" aka "sunfish" once. A really little one (Maby 1m in diameter?). But, TBO I was thankful to see that creature. I've never seen it before.

I love to be on the water. And I'll be 100% from 2026 on.

Cheers
Dirk

 

[Jeff F]

I came across a sunfish basking on the surface in Nova Scotia many years ago. I thought it was an overturned boat or sea turtle at first, then a dead whale, then it swam slowly away when I circled it under sail. It was on its side, and seemed huge. I was on a 23' boat with about 18" freeboard.

I'm sure hitting one at high speed in a modern high-performance sailboat would be deadly for the fish, and potentially deadly for the sailor.

I've gotten close enough to whales to think that they're vulnerable as well to high speed collisions.


Sent from my moto g play (2021) using Trawler Forum mobile app

 

[O C Diver]

I have been in the water with ocean sunfish. We would see them off Ocean City, MD on are way back to port from scuba diving. As with a pod of porpoises, I would let customers get in the water with them. Sometimes they will let you touch them, other times they swim slowly away. You would think that they would be smooth and possibly coated with slime, but actually there surface is hard an abrasive like 20 grit sandpaper. The ones in the Mid-Atlantic are supposed to eat jelly fish. I'm all about anything that eats jelly fish.

Ted

 

[psneeld]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jellyfish_as_food

"Some species of jellyfish are suitable for human consumption and are used as a source of food and as an ingredient in various dishes. Edible jellyfish is a seafood that is harvested and consumed in several East and Southeast Asian countries, and in some Asian countries it is considered to be a delicacy. Edible jellyfish is often processed into a dried product. Several types of foods and dishes may be prepared with edible jellyfish, including salads, sushi, noodles, and main courses. Various preparation methods exist."

When I used to stop in Darien, Ga, I though these huge catches were shrimp on ice...tuns out they were jellyballs (mid sized jellyfish) on salt headed for Asia.

I wish the huge foreign fleets would also catch jellyballs and sargasso instead of tuna and salmon.... they can have all they want of the jellybellies and seaweed.

And hoorah for the sunfish too!

 

[CaptTom]

Saw this one sunfish (Mola Mola) which had some sort of injury on it's face/jaw area. You can't see it well in this pic, but it also had an injury just forward of the fin. Hope it survived! The way they come up out of the water to look at you really makes them seem intelligent.

 

[psneeld]

I could hardly believe they could move fast or jump after seeing a few.

 

[CaptTom]

I could hardly believe they could move fast or jump after seeing a few.

Same here! The first time I saw it, I thought I was imagining things. The next time I had to look it up to verify they really can jump.


For something which normally moves so slowly, I guess they can really get up and go when they want to. I would imagine this ability helps somewhat with avoiding ship and boat strikes. They're such a cool-looking creature, I do hope they continue to thrive.

 

[OldDan1943]

I dont stay at the Holiday Inn so I am not an expert on anything BUT, IMO the orca problem may be a problem with the rudder design or perhaps a rudder flutter. Reasoning, it seems to be a rudder strike by the Orca, not a broad side. Worthy of tank testing and redesigning the rudder. Something is irritating or drawing attention of the Orca. This primarily a problem with sailboats. I wonder if I the sailboats are all the same class or same rudder design.
Per the Ocean Sun Fish; they lay of the near the ocean surface waiting for the birds and other creatures to peck off the parasites. I read that on the net, recently.

 

[SteveK]

Leaving harbour in a navigable marked channel approx 20 feet deep with shallows on either side less I spotted a gray whale. So I slowed down as it went under. After a few minutes the last place I expected to see it was on the stern about 5 feet from the props. It could not swim as fast as my getaway speed so we did not conclude the intensions.

 

[Hippocampus]

The world wide orca issue is really interesting. Orcas are pretty smart. Most smart animals (including humans) use play as a learning experience during maturation. One hypothesis is that a group of adolescent male orcas found it fun to hit sailboats. This behavior spread pod to pod to now include much of the world.

Orcas have been around for a long time as have sailboats. But the behavior is relatively new. Most involve high aspect balanced fin rudders and adolescent male orcas. Orcas have a long standing aversion to great white sharks as they share food sources (seals and other small marine mammals). Pods of orcas will attack great whites unprovoked. Some think this play is training for such activities. However this all is hypothetical as there’s yet to be any hard science to support it.

 

[SailorGreg]

The world wide orca issue is really interesting. Orcas are pretty smart. Most smart animals (including humans) use play as a learning experience during maturation. One hypothesis is that a group of adolescent male orcas found it fun to hit sailboats. This behavior spread pod to pod to now include much of the world.



Orcas have been around for a long time as have sailboats. But the behavior is relatively new. Most involve high aspect balanced fin rudders and adolescent male orcas. Orcas have a long standing aversion to great white sharks as they share food sources (seals and other small marine mammals). Pods of orcas will attack great whites unprovoked. Some think this play is training for such activities. However this all is hypothetical as there’s yet to be any hard science to support it.

As we tell sunfish stories…. We were coming back from Bermuda ( sailboat days) dense fog, flat seas. Kept getting radar returns so I would dodge and keep moving. 200 miles from nowhere so hard to believe we were in the middle of a fishing tournament and never did see another boat.
So finally I drove straight at a radar return, with vis below 1/8 mile and no joy. Then about when we should have run directly over the return I saw the fin of a sunfish. A lot of white knuckle driving for nothing.

 

[Mischief Managed]

We see those sun fish quite often here on the New England coast. If you stop your boat in their path, they'll sometimes bump into the boat so I don't think they have an instinctive fear response to boats. I don't think I've ever seen one that was not all scarred up from what I presume to be boat strikes. Fascinating fish.

 

[OldDan1943]

Was reported off the coast of Japan, a pod of dolphins attack some swimmers.

 

[kthoennes]

Saw this one sunfish (Mola Mola) which had some sort of injury on it's face/jaw area...

Do they have a face? Well, I guess, sort of. Kind of reminds me of that exchange in the movie Fargo. "He was funny lookin." Oh yah? In what way? " I don't know, just funny lookin."

 

[BruceK]

Was reported off the coast of Japan, a pod of dolphins attack some swimmers.

Sounds like retaliation for human "misdeeds", albeit indiscriminate.

 

[psneeld]

Sounds like retaliation for human "misdeeds", albeit indiscriminate.

This guy was pretty funny a few years back making fun of "animal retribution".....

 

[OldDan1943]

Sounds like retaliation for human "misdeeds", albeit indiscriminate.

I agree. Not nice to harass the bottle nose dolphins. Let them approach.
Few things in the sea want to be touched.