strange sight - wellfleet harbor
 

Saturday around 1pm, my wife and I were walking on the beach near Wellfleet harbor, in front of the bookstore restaurant. My wife notices a large black fin out in the water. It was fairly big, and was definitly feeding, swimming aggressivly. The fin was droopy, and not straight and solid, almost looked like the wing of a large ray, and it was moving up and down. We watced it for @ 5 minutes and then it disappeared. Sort of looked like a shark, but becasue the fin did not seem firm, Im not sure. I've never seen an ocean sunfish, but have heard they are mistaken for sharks, not sure they move this erratically.

Any thoughts? I;ve been thinking about it all weekend wondering what it could be?

More than likely an Ocean Sunfish (Mola Mola) One was going around the Canal this weekend too.

I just looked at some pics online, the mola looks light gray, this fin was definitely black.

pilot whales, or "blackfish", have been known to frequent wellfleet harbor throughout history...hence, blackfish creek in wellfleet.

i think that may be it, pilot whale.

Sounds like a basking shark

feeding aggressively and mola mola do not fit.

i agree Neb, Im goign with the pilot whale therory. sent pics to my wife and she concurs

on a side note, i havent been to the cape in awhile, i forgot how amazingly beautiful it is.

Ocean Sunfish can be many different colors. I guarantee by the way you described the fin out of the water and being floppy that it was an ocean sunfish. If it was a whale you would have seen a lot more than just the fin and it would not have been floppy.

HE SAID IT WAS FEEDING AGGRESSIVELY!!!! good god people... when was the last time you saw a fast moving mola?

easy Nebe : )

It was moving in relatively tight turns. And it moved with a pumping motion, ALMOST porpoising. I did not see any mist or surface for air you would expect from a whale though. I guess I'll never know for sure. It was cool to see something that large so close to shore.

sometimes whale dorsal fins collapse in captivity. Not that I am an expert or anything, maybe it was captured or had been under some stress.

Nebes right. Even the most agile mola mola can move at about .7 mph, and would likely take about 20 minutes to do a 180 degree turn. I'd say either the pilot whale or basking shark. Haven't heard of a basking up here recently though. Brackish water in blackfish creek? BTW Jimmy nice outfit yesterday.

I would say it was an ocean sunfish!!!
They do move slow but can move very fast when they are
approached and startled!!!
Just from my experience!!!:btu:

Last fall the same thing, pilot whale in there feeding on the schools of bunker.

a couple years ago I saw one breach right out of the water in the canal :uhuh:
they can move quick, you are just used to seeing them swimming lazily, does not mean they can't move quickly.

Killer whales often come to the Bay during tuna time. I've seen a tuna get nailed by a KW. They have floppy dorsal fins.

:btu::btu::btu:

Absolutely.
Might not have been a mola, but they can MOVE when needed!

manatee

A Mola can launch itself completely out of the water. We witnessed it off Newport this year a few times why they were "blitzing" on Jelly fish:btu:. I bet 1/2 the Blue fin sightings you here about of the RI coast are people that see the big splash and assume Blue Fin.

elvis?

Saw the same thing off the Race last week. Thought it was a seal at first until it made frequent sharp turns while exposed. Was quite a way out when I saw it, so couldn't get a good look even with the binocs. Was definitely running lines through bait, the birds were all over it.

Not a sunfish expert. I've ran into them several times but they've always been lazy and just slowly rolling. Those things are pretty cool when you see how huge they are up close. Let solve this mystery already. Lochness maybe?

You sure it wasn't Bigfish in his wet suit??:hidin:

I am going with the pilot whale theory, especially if Finlander saw one feeding on bunker in the same place last year. A Molas fin is slender and from the pics I saw did not look like what was in the harbor. This animal was also make quick turns and feeding.