Thinning The Jellyfish

So there I was...cruising from Martha's Vineyard to Newport several years ago when I spotted a fin in the distance from my vantage point on the upper helm station of Eventide.  It initially looked like the dorsal fin of a large shark but as Kim and I got closer we could see that the fin was flopping back and forth.  Either a very sick shark or something else.  Turns out it was something else, namely a Mola Mola, commonly called an Ocean Sunfish.  These fish weigh in at around 2000 lbs, look like a massive pancake laying on it's side at the surface, have huge eyes and a small mouth for eating it's primary diet of jellyfish.  As we approached, I thought the sound of our engine would cause the Sunfish to dive but as I idled up to within 3 feet of it, it just lay there looking at us with that big eye and flopping it's fin as if waving.  A friendly fish that feeds on the dreaded jellyfish.  How good is that?  Speaking of jellyfish, one of the most feared of this species, though not technically a jellyfish, the Portuguese Man-O-War made a rare showing that same summer as we spotted several off the coast of Martha's Vineyard.  Named after the classic Portuguese fighting ships of old, because of their similar appearance, they have a gas filled bladder that looks like a sail standing several inches above the water and about 30 ft long tentacles below.  The winds effect on the sail actually propels it through the water and if a person comes in contact with the tentacles it will not be something they forget.  Fortunately, our friendly Mola Mola will eat these guys as well.  Most years I have at least one sea turtle sighting and I'm always amazed how big they are.  And the best part, they eat jellyfish.