Dive 10: Here Comes the (Sun)fish
Video courtesy of the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, 2019 Southeastern U.S. Deep-sea Exploration. Download larger version (mp4, 70.2 MB).

We saw this ocean sunfish (Mola mola) while exploring Pourtalès Terrace during Dive 10 of the 2019 Southeastern U.S. Deep-sea Exploration. Found in all major ocean basins, ocean sunfish are the largest of all bony fish, capable of reaching a whopping 1,000 kilograms (2,200 pounds)! Resembling a head with fins, this curious-looking fish got its common name because sometimes they lay flat on the surface of the ocean in order to be warmed by the sun.

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