A gentle giant measuring over 4m in length and weighing in at 2,300kg, the ocean sunfish, or Mola mola, is a normally a tropical species. However, as water temperatures warm along North America’s West coast, specimens have been appearing off British Columbia with one observed near Bella Bella and another washed ashore on northern Vancouver Island. The sunfish are here due to the northerly expansion of their warm water range. The pool of warm water they inhabit, dubbed “the blob” by scientists, has been expanding in the Gulf of Alaska as the previous two winters have been too mild to produce the big storms required to disperse it. “Now we’re talking about waters that are 16, 17, 18 degrees that are typically 13 or 14 degrees,” said Dr. Richard Dewey of Ocean Networks Canada. “They are very docile,” said Dewey. “They sometimes sit at the surface for hours. I’ve actually seen a seagull land on a sunfish while sunning itself at the surface.”

Others moving in

Sunfish aren’t the only species embracing the warmer temperatures. “There are a variety of species that typically are found by the fishermen under these warm conditions,” said Dewey. “Humboldt squid is one. They are a large, large predator.” Measuring up to 2m in length, Humboldt squid are voracious predators. Normally found hunting in the waters off Mexico, their range has been expanding steadily northwards, with some observed off Vancouver Island’s west coast. Large schools of mackerel have also appeared on the scene, which could spell trouble for local species. “These warm water species may be eating the same food,” said Dewey. “The Chinook that are coming back now, they want to feed on herring, but these mackerel are also feeding on the herring. You have the ripple-on effects that it may not be a sustainable mode for the environment or the habitat or the fish, so we’re concerned for that, but as a scientist you’re always excited when something really extraordinary happens,” he added. SOURCE: GLOBALNEWS.CA