So glad you visited the site. I hope you enjoy it. Mike Johnson, photographer extraordinaire, and I started this site way back in 2000 and it’s been a tremendously enjoyable endeavor--gathering up all these bits and pieces on the magnificent Molidae over these past years. This site is a complete labor of love so any donations to the Adopt a Sunfish Foundation are greatly appreciated. Any corrections or additions you'd like to add to strengthen the site, please do not hesitate to contact info@oceansunfish.org. And if you do use this site for your own purposes, please don't forget a proper citation.

I get quite a lot of questions that start with why Mola?! Well, I first became enchanted with the mola after seeing a tiny picture of one on my graduate school advisor’s wall. To me it just seemed such an unlikely design for any self-respecting open ocean fish. It completely piqued my curiosity and has held me spellbound ever since. 

I was born in northern California and my parents were very supportive of my desire to be in the water. They even made me a little wet suit so I could play in the ocean longer without getting too chilled. During grade school, I moved to Vermont, learned to SCUBA dive in a lake at the age of 15, and in 1988 graduated from Brown University in Rhode Island with a degree in biology. I came back to California after college, learned to fly and got a job working with Sylvia Earle and Graham Hawkes building a winged submarine at Deep Ocean Engineering before attending graduate school at Duke University in North Carolina.  I combined my interests in biology and engineering there and got a doctorate in zoology in 1998 investigating the mechanics of swimming muscles in fish.

Since 2000, our mola team has been traveling the world ocean studying the giant ocean sunfish (mola). Though these fish can grow more than ten feet (three meters) long and weigh over 5,000 pounds (2,270 kilograms), little is known about them. By placing satellite tags on them and collecting tissue samples for genetic and toxin analysis, we're hoping to uncover the molas' secrets: How did they come to occupy all tropical and temperate seas? Where, when, and at what size do they reproduce? How do they locate their jellyfish prey? What else are they eating? Are there more ocean sunfish species yet to be discovered? Are their populations endangered? How can they help us understand the changing ocean? To see one of my mola talks delivered at the TED conference, click here.

In addition to conducting research on molas, I am the Director of Research at Sea Studios Foundation, a non-profit foundation based in Monterey, California. Sea Studios Foundation is dedicated to inspiring public understanding of science, technology and the environment through entertaining and innovative media. The company recently co-produced the National Geographic’s Strange Days on Planet Earth. Both my careers are aimed at raising awareness of the ocean—not only of the spectacular life within the deep blue, but also of the pivotal role the ocean plays in Earth’s climate and the livelihood of humanity.

Please do let me know what you think of the site and thanks again for visiting.