Mola Mola

In asking people for cool places to visit this summer, I was suggested the world famous Monterey Bay Aquarium. Wanting to learn more about it, I decided to look it up on Wikipedia. The Monterey Bay Aquarium "is one of the largest and most respected aquariums in the world. It has an annual attendance of 1.8 million and holds 35,000 plants and animals representing 623 species..." Wow. Impressive...I thought, so I continued to read. "...features the world's largest single paned window (crafted by a Japanese company, the window is actually 4 panes seamlessly glued together through a proprietary process)...The Aquarium appeared in the 1986 film Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home..."

And then...I saw this:

WTF!??! Is that...a fish? Holy crap, and I thought goldfish are disgusting... This thing looks like a giant scab, floating in the water. And trust me, nothing can be more disgusting than a scab floating in water. I literally had to prevent myself from puking after seeing this.

It's called the Ocean Sunfish (or Mola Mola), the heaviest bony fish (or taxonomic superclass Osteichthyes, what most fish are part of) in the world. It can weigh up to 5,100 lbs. More than 40 different species of parasites live on its skin, causing it discomfort. And because of this, it basks in the sun so that birds can pick at its skin. Oh apparently, "despite its size, the docile ocean sunfish poses no threat to human divers." Great! I think I'll just go and pet it now!

NOT!

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