Rare six‑foot 'hoodwinker' sunfish washes ashore in Bodega Bay
Mola tecta — a species only identified in 2017 — was confirmed by the scientist who first described it after early‑morning visitors found the giant fish on a Sonoma County beach
A rare hoodwinker sunfish (Mola tecta) measuring about six feet long washed ashore at Doran Regional Park in Bodega Bay, California, early Sunday, startling beachgoers and prompting confirmation from the scientist who first described the species.
The fish, roughly three feet wide with a small mouth and no visible tail, was found near the western tip of the beach by Stefan Kiesbye, a Sonoma State University professor who was picking up trash. "It’s sad that it’s been washed to shore," Kiesbye said. "But it was so enormous and so weird and gorgeous. It’s like suddenly you’re on another planet." He told reporters he was "still in awe" after initially mistaking the animal for a dead sea lion.
Marine biologist Marianne Nyegaard of New Zealand, who formally described Mola tecta in 2017, told the East Bay Times that the stranded animal could be distinguished from more common ocean sunfish by its narrow clavus and the absence of head or chin bumps. Nyegaard said the species' presence off Northern California was unexpected given earlier understandings of its range.
"We know Mola tecta occurs in the Humboldt Current off South America, as far north as Peru," Nyegaard said. "But we did not think they would cross the warm equatorial belt — at least not very often. But they definitely cross — probably by diving deep and swimming underneath the warmer equatorial surface waters."
The hoodwinker — named for the Latin tecta, meaning "hidden" — was only recognized as a distinct species in 2017 after scientists determined it was different from other members of the sunfish family. Since that first northern‑hemisphere sighting, scientists have recorded additional strandings and sightings along the U.S. West Coast.
At least half a dozen hoodwinkers have washed up from Southern California to Oregon and as far north as Alaska in recent years, a pattern that has prompted researchers to reassess the species' distribution. Sonoma County Regional Parks spokesperson Meda Freeman said several sunfish had been observed offshore before the most recent stranding. A county park ranger said it was only the second dead sunfish he had encountered in six years of coastal patrols.
Sunfish strandings — when a fish beaches itself and is unable to return to deeper water — occur worldwide across several species in the family Molidae. Nyegaard said such events are not always an indication of human influence on marine populations.
Officials at Doran Regional Park and local marine responders were notified of the discovery. The carcass remained on the beach as authorities assessed whether to remove it for study or to allow natural decomposition to proceed in accordance with local public‑health and wildlife policies.
Bodega Bay, a windswept inlet about 60 miles north of San Francisco, draws campers, surfers and birdwatchers and was the setting for Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 film The Birds. For those who encountered the hoodwinker, the appearance of one of the ocean’s largest and most unusual fishes provided an unexpected reminder of the marine life offshore.
Scientists continue to track occurrences of Mola tecta along the West Coast to better understand migration, population structure and the environmental factors that may be influencing their movements. Confirmation of the species by researchers who first described it provides a reliable identification point for ongoing monitoring and study.