An alien-like Mola mola surprised surfers as it surfaced along the San Diego coastline, ultimately dying and washing ashore.
“A rare Mola mola (ocean sunfish) washed up on our shore at Cardiff State Beach today,” San Diego State Lifeguards stated Wednesday via Instagram. “It’s the heaviest bony fish on earth and can weigh over 2,000 lbs. It mostly snacks on jellyfish and loves sunbathing on the surface.”
Mola mola in wave in north San Diego.
Images show the sunfish alongside a lifeguard buoy on the beach, and in the surf before it stranded.
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A top comment: “Aw, watched it float down the coast from Swamis, barely alive. It sat under a few surfers at dawn but once it floated into the impact zone I knew it was dying.
“Lots of people thought the flopping dorsal fin was a shark. Beautiful to see it close up but too bad it died.”
Mola molas, more typically encountered in deep, offshore waters, are strange-looking creatures.
From the Monterey Bay Aquarium: “The ocean sunfish (Mola mola) looks like the invention of a mad scientist. Huge and flat, this silvery-gray fish has a tiny mouth and big eyes that vanish into an even bigger body with a truncated tail.”
Surfer eyes Mola mola off San Diego beach.
The aquarium added that ocean sunfish can weigh up to 5,000 pounds.
They’re the largest bony fishes on the planet, as noted, in a category that does not include sharks and rays.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Alien-like Mola mola stuns surfers, washes ashore in San Diego