Mass mola mola die off at MBK?

I was demoing some of the new offerings from Ocean Kayak and Necky at MBK yesterday (I'll save my review of the Torque for a different thread) and there was a big swell that had washed in a ton of kelp and debris.In amongst the kelp there were at least ten mola mola per hundred yards dead on the beach at MBK.Most of them were small to medium size (14-20") and had eyes pecked out by gulls.A few had their fins chewed off by sea lions.

Here's my theory on why this may have happened...Near the end of Sept when folks were catching the wsb and 'cuda at MBK there was a ton of jellies and squid in the water.I actually saw a mola actively feeding on jellies around that time.Then this big swell hit us out of the gulf of Alaska and pushed the mola on to shore.

Is this die off common for the mola mola? Is this related to el nino or something else?

Poisonous jelly fish???  Anyway, it's a sad news!

Hope this was not the cause 

Adult sunfish are vulnerable to few natural predators, but sea lions, orcas and sharks will consume them. Among humans, sunfish are considered a delicacy in some parts of the world, including Japan, the Korean peninsula and Taiwan, but sale of their flesh is banned in the European Union. Sunfish are vulnerable to harm or death from encounters with floating trash, such as plastic bags.

Hard to say what the cause was without examination, but i know there have been some big red tides this last month from Bodega to Monterey.  Could be that.  It's interesting.  I'll check with my fishy colleagues down there and see if anyone knows what's up.

Jim

Plastic bags and marine garbage unfortunately do claim their share of mola, but there were so many it seems unlikely that it would kill them on such a mass scale.

InSeine, I think you may be on to something with the red tide.The red tide was thick off MBK earlier this month and the swell seemed to clear it all out.Perhaps the tide did the damage.Wouldn't that have killed off other species of fish too or is there something about mola that makes them more susceptible to red tide?

It Was, "I LikeY Fish" He did a revers "Jai Boi" voodoo on the mola mola  !!!

 

It Was, "I LikeY Fish" He did a revers "Jai Boi" voodoo on the mola mola  !!!

 

I see...any Mola Mola comes in contact with the one he netted and released went belly-up 

We saw a huge sunfish about 8ft long and 5ft wide slowly swimming around us.  Scared the heck out of me at first because I've never seen one that big from above.  But when it showed its side I could tell it was a sunfish.  Might have been the mama of all those little ones washed ashore.  They swim so slow its amazing they don't get eaten by sharks and seals more. 

I talked with some of our guides who were leading tours in the days preceding all the dead mola washing up and one of them reported seeing sea lions tossing mola around like chew toys and eating their fins.Unable to swim away, the mola would bob on the surface and get pecked by gulls.

so it's jerry's fault.  the plot thickens...::cue ominous music::

They swim so slow its amazing they don't get eaten by sharks and seals more. 

Mola can swim fast when they need to.  I've hooked a few on the albacore grounds.  I'll always remember the site of a 7-8 foot model jumping as it was hooked up for about 5 seconds (not by me).  The burst of speed and the power to get that body out of the water was simply amazing.

-Allen

They swim so slow its amazing they don't get eaten by sharks and seals more. 

Mola can swim fast when they need to.  I've hooked a few on the albacore grounds.  I'll always remember the site of a 7-8 foot model jumping as it was hooked up for about 5 seconds (not by me).  The burst of speed and the power to get that body out of the water was simply amazing.

-Allen

Allen, I think you were on a Wild Wave Tuna trip with me when a HUGE one ( possibly 10'x10' ) cruised the rail. I had just shuffeld to the bow and retrieved my flyline when it happend. I looked to my right and saw the guy nexto me go bendo and shout "Fresh one!"  I just laughed as it proceeded to pick up 3/4 of the guys at the rail  . It didnt even know it was hooked. Broke every one off and went on its merry way.

Aaron, i thought they were unappealing to other critters. Strange that Ive never seen seals hit them before..

According to the guide's report and some of the carcasses I saw on the beach the sea lions only ate the fins, leaving the bodies (which appear leathery and tough).Not sure why sea lions would do this, other than maybe a small amount of protein from the fins and I haven't witnessed this behavior myself.

They swim so slow its amazing they don't get eaten by sharks and seals more. 

Mola can swim fast when they need to.  I've hooked a few on the albacore grounds.  I'll always remember the site of a 7-8 foot model jumping as it was hooked up for about 5 seconds (not by me).  The burst of speed and the power to get that body out of the water was simply amazing.

-Allen

Allen, I think you were on a Wild Wave Tuna trip with me when a HUGE one ( possibly 10'x10' ) cruised the rail. I had just shuffeld to the bow and retrieved my flyline when it happend. I looked to my right and saw the guy nexto me go bendo and shout "Fresh one!"  I just laughed as it proceeded to pick up 3/4 of the guys at the rail  . It didnt even know it was hooked. Broke every one off and went on its merry way.

Aaron, i thought they were unappealing to other critters. Strange that Ive never seen seals hit them before..

We're thinking of the same incident Sharky.  I thought perhaps it was bigger than the 7-8' I posted!!!

-Allen

Ok

So the intel from the experts at the Hopkins Marine Stations say it is because of rogue sea lions.  The do in fact like to chew the fins off.  Then the Mola sinks to the bottom and dies.  A friend doing dive surveys out in front of the station says the bottom is littered in dead Mola.  She said she thought that there were a lot of mola this year because of the huge jelly numbers they saw this year, which is what mola like to eat. The big swell probably pushed all those dead and dying mola on the beach.  I guess we need more white sharks to chew the fins off the sea lions.

Jim