Video of one of the world's heaviest bony fish greeting a family off the coast of Mumbles, Swansea in Wales have gone viral. The clip shows the fish swimming on the surface of the water which is a rare sight. Sililo Marten was on a fishing trip with his family when he recorded the clip. People on the boat can be heard discussing how big the fish was. They can be heard asking if it is a shark or a dolphin. Only after some time they understood that it was an Ocean Sunfish (or Mola Mola). These sunfish may weigh as much as a car and are generally found in tropical waters. The fish is named due to its habit of basking in the sun. Carcass of Whale Shark, Rare Largest Known Fish Species, Washes Ashore Sea in Tamil Nadu's Rameswaram (View Pics)
The fish is also known as Mola Mola. They are harmless to humans but often swim close to divers. As they weigh upto 1,000 kg it is considered as the world's heaviest bony fish. Sililo Martens who captured the rarity shared it on Facebook with the caption, "Ha ok, it’s not shark, Dolphin, or Blow fish thing (ha). It’s a SunFish apparently. Seeing one just outside Mumbles (Wales) is pretty cool." World's Only Pink Manta Ray Caught on Camera in Great Barrier Reef, View Stunning Pics of 'Inspector Clouseau'.
Rare Huge Sunfish Spotted off the Coast of Mumbles in Wales:
Sunfish can grow upto 11 feet in length and Sililo said that this one was atleast a third of their 18 feet long speedboat. Although the fish live in tropical waters, this was seen off the coast of Dorset. Talking about seeing a sunfish for the first time, he told WalesOnline, "My son was just about to jump in the water when I spotted the blackfin from about 20 metres away. Straight away it looked like a shark fin and when we got closer it looked more like a Dolphin and then, only until we got right up next to it, we could see it was this beautiful enormous fish."
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 27, 2020 09:02 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).