Peter Cowlishaw. The Mola Mola Fish

Wed, May 18th 2016 at 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm

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MOLA  MOLA  FISH


Peter Cowlishaw  gave the slightly bewildered audience  a fascinating presentation on a sea creature unknown to Currie Balerno Rotary Club. Mola Mola (latin- “millstone”) triggered Peter’s curiosity when researching a new themed tour at the Museum of Scotland on “Animals from the Deep". The species is huge, up to 14 feet high,10 feet long and can weigh 1600 kilograms, lives at depths down to 600 m. and can be found swimming off the Scottish coasts ! Shane Wasik, a researcher featured in an article in the Scotsman newspaper travelled to Bali, home to the greatest number of the species, found none and returned to Scotland to resume his guided whale watching business.

In the waters off Oban during a whale watching trip to his amazement Shane spotted and filmed a Mola Mola fish near the surface. There have been several confirmed sightings round the British coasts since then and much new research in Ireland. The water temperature off Oban at the time of Shane’s  sighting was 18 degrees C. (the species needs 12 degrees C. min. to survive) and it’s thought the fish took advantage of the Gulf Stream warm temperatures to reach Oban. 

The spectacular size of the creature ( it’s apparently not a “fish”)  was illustrated by Peter’s excellent powerpoint slide presentation showing it’s sheer scale, swimming like an enormous sunfish consuming it’s diet of “sailor” jellyfish,eelgrass and molluscs. Preditors include killer whales, sharks and sea-lions. Peter did not recommend eating the species as it can be poisonous to humans but it is apparently  eaten in Japan and Korea, countries with a tradition of dealing with poisonous fish!

The meeting gave Peter a very warm appreciation for his fascinating and well researched presentation.  A vote of thanks was eloquently delivered by David Cormack.           

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