Ocean Sunfish Profiling!
Here at Foxsylvania, we decry the reporting of ocean sunfish for engaging in normal fish behaviors such as hanging around and swimming about. It would appear that some people in Massachusetts are freaked out by the appearance of ocean sunfish off their coast, and are dialing 911 and reporting them to the police. They seem to think that the sunfish are sharks or injured seals, or that they may be in some form of distress…
…well, the large bony fish of genus Mola are just fine, doin’ what comes naturally, and violating no laws. They are somewhat funny-looking as they lack a tail fin and so look incomplete, sort of like the AMC Gremlin of the sea. Their teeth are fused into a kind of parrot-like beak, adding to their alien, goofy appearance. Sunfish are so called because of their habit of basking on their side on the ocean surface as a temperature regulation mechanism since they will dive to depths of 2,600 feet or so on feeding forays, and it can be cold down there! So if you see the ocean sunfish which can weigh up to 5,000 pounds and measure over 10’ in length floating at the surface, rumors of their death are premature. They’re just catchin’ some rays, dude…
The authorities would request that the good citizens of Massachusetts not call 911 over sightings of ocean sunfish swimming and basking. The police, after all, have bigger fish to fry…
Tags: ocean sunfish
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FOXSYLVANIA 
October 21, 2020 at 11:25 pm
When I was a little kid, my father insisted on taking my younger brothers and I to a nearby lake for Opening Day of fishing season.*
But, I quickly (and permanently) lost my enthusiasm for that rural pass-time as all I caught, besides mosquitoes, were under-6-inch pumpkinseed sunfish!**
*Please! No Bugs-and-Daffy jokes.
**I can’t prove it. But, I truly believe they got their common name from being used, by pre-Pilgrim Native American tribes, as organic fertilizer. Planted in the ground alongside actual seeds for pumpkins!
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October 23, 2020 at 11:50 am
Then there are those who go fishing for fish commonly called, “crappies.” There will never be a breakfast cereal named after them (“Here, Jimmy, eat your crappies!”). As the late great Jimmy Durante might have said, “What a revoltin’ development!”
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October 23, 2020 at 6:15 pm
GOOD ONE! 🙂
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