Huge ‘strange looking creature’ swims under paddleboarder off California, video shows

Rich German says he has gone paddling off the California coast every day for 12 years.

He’s seen thousands of dolphins and whales, and many fish in the sea. On Dec. 2, however, a giant creature like he’s never seen before swam up under his board.

It was an unusually large ocean sunfish.

“My buddy and I were blown away when we saw it,” German told McClatchy News in an email. “First off they are just strange looking creatures and this one was massive and was just floating on the surface getting some sun.”

German and his friend Matthew Wheaton have seen sunfish before, but none have ever been this large or close to shore.

Ocean sunfish, known scientifically as mola mola, are usually about 11 feet long and can weigh up to 5,000 pounds, according to National Geographic.

“Matt’s board is 14 feet long and you can see in the photos how big the fish appears,” German said. “Obviously we didn’t catch it or measure it but this one sure looked longer than 9 feet.”

The sunfish looks like it could be at least the size of Wheaton’s paddle board, video and photos show.

The fish was spotted in Laguna Beach’s protected no-take zone, where it’s illegal to fish, German said.

The sunfish population is decreasing, according to National Geographic, and they’re considered a vulnerable species. The fish is usually seen soaking up the sun near the surface in temperate or tropical oceans.

“I’ve seen many sunfish … but this was by far the biggest,” German said. “Normally they are at least 1-2+ miles offshore but this one was only a couple hundred yards off of Main Beach.”

This story was originally published December 7, 2021 at 1:56 PM with the headline "Huge ‘strange looking creature’ swims under paddleboarder off California, video shows."