Biology Fish Organisms Pelagic

Oh my god, what the @#$% is that bro?

Dr. M September 30, 2015

I can’t help it. I’m in love with a new viral video.  Is it the fact that features the largest species of fish?  Is nostalgia for the Boston accent that reminds me of my days in graduate school?  Is there sheer excitement of this man for ocean life?  Maybe it’s the profanity.  Below the fold is probably NSFW because of the profanity.  Proceed with caution.


The narrator, so to speak, is Michael Bergin from Malden, Massachusetts.  His video with over 3 million views captures an ocean sunfish, Mola mola (Jay, I don’t know what this is.  Oh my god, what the @#$% is that bro?). The animal is not a baby whale, sea turtle, or flounder. However, I do share in Michael’s excitement (Look at this @#$%’n thing)  The Ocean Biogeographic Information System contains nearly 10,000 sightings of the large fish and as you can see in the map below New England is bit of hotspot for sightings.  The map clearly shows Mola mola is a globally distributed species.

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The largest recorded size for M. mola is 3.3 m in length, 3.2 m in height, and 2,300 kg from an individual that washed ashore at Whangarei Heads in New Zealand (10.8 ft, 10.5 ft, 5070 lbs).  However the video below posted in early 2014 shows an individual that may be largest ever seen.  Just eyeballing, the size of this individual (Dat thing is big Jay. What is that thing?) makes it a juvenile.

Contrary to Michael’s assertion (It look hurt. That thing looks hurt Jay. Jay that thing is hurtin’ bro. Oh my god that thing looks dead bro), the individual is not hurt.  Sunfish often bask in the sun at the surface.  The fish are deep divers and lay in the sun at the surface to warm themselves after these excursions.

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4 Replies to “Oh my god, what the @#$% is that bro?”

  1. That the video is so wildly popular speaks very sadly of a public that finds such ignorance and disrespect of a wondrous fish so entertaining, especially considering that the two people in the video then tried to kill that sentient being.

    We should encourage respect and appreciation of other life forms, not gratuitous, harmful exploitation of them.

  2. Love it! Great little write-up on a fascinating fish species. The video off Massachusetts with spontaneous narration is just hilarious. A nice mix of entertainment and information in this article.

  4. I can’t help thinking the mola mola looks like the Creator got halfway through with it and then lost interest. Very strange creature: it doesn’t even have close living relatives, do it? Only species in its genus, only genus in its family.

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