'A very unusual fish': Colder weather brings ocean sunfish to Onset Bay

Instead of doing the downward dog on a yoga mat at the Onset Bay Center, Abigail Forcier dipped her hands into Onset Bay to rescue a flat, oval-shaped and slimy fish.

"I boated over to the stone bridge and I found it splashing around— kind of just swimming in circles in shallow water," she said. 

What the sailing and waterfront manager of the Onset Bay Center found was an ocean sunfish, otherwise known as a mola mola, Tuesday Nov. 4. The fish, which can weigh over 2,000 lbs, have had increased sightings in the bay in recent years.

As the water cools and fish migrate south for the winter months, some unlucky sealife get confused in the Cape Cod Canal and end up in the shallow waters of Onset Bay according to the Founder and President of New England Coastal Wildlife Alliance, Carol “Krill” Carson. 

The alliance is a volunteer driven nonprofit based in Middleboro that protects and rescues marine wildlife in the coastal waters of New England. Carson is a marine biologist who has been rescuing fish since 2008.

She said it's not uncommon to spot sunfish in Onset Bay this time of year. The fish aren't used to shallow bottoms and don't understand tides, often becoming stunned and confused in cold water.

"They are very smart fish," she said. "They just get turned around and they get stuck. Even the smart animals get stuck." 

The sunfish promote biodiversity in the area, something Carson said is important. Last year, the alliance reported finding 156 sunfish around the Cape Cod region. 

"There's always a handful of fish that weasel into Onset Bay by mistake. The ocean sunfish are up here in the summer having a great time eating jellyfish but then as the water gets colder they need to head south," she said. "They go through the Cape Cod Canal and they're doing great going into Buzzards Bay, but then they take a right."

Carson said that increasingly warming waters could be the cause of the increase in sightings. When she began the alliance in 2008, only eight sunfish needed rescue. 

“A lot more animals are coming up here in the summer and having a great time," she said. "That means when it's time to get out of here you're going to have a higher percentage of animals getting stuck."

Usually rescuers can use their hands to move the sunfish to deeper and safer waters. However, due to this fish's large size, Frocier had to use her boat to guide the fish away from the bridge.

"I tried maneuvering it around with my hands but it's a really big fish. I wasn't entirely successful," she said. 

The fish didn't make its way to deep water for very long, popping up once more near Burgess Point near the shore. Forcier then enlisted the help of alliance volunteer Billie-Jo Gibbons who was waiting back on Onset Pier. 

Gibbons held the fish by its dorsal fins while Forcier drove the boat, towing the fish to safer waters in Buzzards Bay.

Carson said the alliance is happy to take on "marine misfits." Without the community's help and assistance from organizations like the Onset Bay Center, Carson said rescues wouldn't get much done.

Alive or dead, Carson urges residents to report any sightings of sunfish to the alliance to help understand the "very unusual fish" better. Other sightings of local animals in peril like seagulls, torpedo rays and diamondback terrapins can also be reported to the organization. 

"Call me," she said. "508-566-0009. Because if the tide is going out and the sun is going down, we might not be able to put a rescue together. But we'll do our best to help."