Unusual visitor drops in to Maria Island

IT might not be the most beautiful thing, but this ocean sunfish is certainly unusual and unexpected.

Ocean Sunfish (also known as Mola Mola) on Reidle beach, Maria Island. Image courtesy of Ian Johnstone, Maria Island Walks.

IT might not be the most beautiful thing a person could find on Maria Island, but this ocean sunfish is certainly unusual and unexpected.

Ian Johnstone, owner of The Maria Island Walk, was on the island’s remote Reidle Beach on Sunday when he and a visiting tourism operator encountered the giant carcass.

Also known as mola mola, it is the heaviest bony fish species in the world – weighing an average of 1000kg – and is usually found in tropical waters.

Mr Johnstone said finding one in Tasmania in mid-winter was extremely unusual and he believed it may be an indication of climate change.

“It had only been washed up on the shore that day I think,” he said.

Gretta Pecl, of the University of Tasmania’s Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies, runs the
website Redmap, which keeps track of marine species that have begun to appear as far south as Tasmania as ocean temperatures warm up.

She said ocean sunfish had very rarely been recorded in Tasmania.

“They are more commonly observed out in the open ocean, but occasionally venture into the shallows,” she said.