I’ll be on a flight to Bali, tomorrow morning. It’s a dive trip with the wife, and father-in-law and his friends. And right about now, it’s Mola Mola season.
It’ll be my first time amongst such large pelagics, as well as manta rays the size of cars. I’m not sure if I’ll be consumed in awe or scared shitless. But either way, it’s going to a dive worth experiencing.
The first time I went to Bali, I was wondering if I would get to see this fish. That was a family trip a year ago before I got married, and we went to Tulamben instead of Nusa Penida, because a bunch of my relatives had just got their diving license, and Nusa Penida is known for strong currents. So, no mola mola.
The first time I saw it, I wasn’t sure if it was a fish. It looks like its tail was cut off. Unlike most other fishes, it lacks a caudal fin, and has a clavus instead. And it looks just weird.
It can reach up to twice my size, but I thank my lucky stars it doesn’t feed on mammals like me. I won’t go near its mouth, though.
Anyway, it’s also called an ocean sunfish cos it likes to ‘bask’ in the sun… often coming up near the surface of the water. It’s fin sticks out above the waters, much like a shark’s, except that it’s not.
It comes from the same family that triggerfishes and pufferfishes do.
If you guys are wondering how I managed to get such a lovely picture of an ocean sunfish, well….. I stole it from google images. Most high quality shots on my flickr are stolen ones. Except the ones I took up on cameron highlands.
I’ll be back Sunday.