SCITUATE -- The last thing the Dyckman family of Pembroke expected to see on their Monday boating trip was a Mola mola.
In fact, they didn't even know what a Mola mola was. But after spotting the odd-looking sea creature -- which some say looks like a giant, floating pancake -- about 40 feet offshore from Scituate's Humarock beach, the family called up the New England Aquarium to find out exactly what they had encountered.
A mola mola, or ocean sunfish, is a large bonefish typically found in tropical waters, according to Steven Bailey, fish curator at the New England Aquarium. Occasionally, these sea creatures will venture off the beaten path into the cooler waters off the Massachusetts coast -- but these sightings are rare.
Bailey said the aquarium gets reports of mola mola encounters about once every other year. Many, like the Dyckmans did, will at first mistake it for something else.
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