November 29, 2012 Ocean Sunfish Stranding on Sandy Neck Beach, Barnstable MA

-

Ocean Sunfish Stranding - Barnstable MA


Dead ocean sunfish on the beach.
Just when I thought there was going to be a little down time, I get a call from Ranger Nina Coleman at the Sandy Neck Beach Park about a dead ocean sunfish in the surf.

The crew! Ranger Nina, Ed, Kevin and Christine. 

Over the past few days, Ranger Nina and her team have been picking up many cold-stunned sea turtles so this was a bit of a change for them. Ranger Nina met me at the Park's Gatehouse around 1 pm and offered to drive me to the carcass. Once I transferred all my gear and equipment to the park's 4-wheel drive truck, we were off and were accompanied by two local journalists, Christine and Kevin.

Ocean sunfish getting weighed.
We were met down at the beach by resident Ed White who took an interest in this carcass. With Ed's help, I was able to weigh this carcass which Nina had very accurately predicted to be around 368 lbs.

Ed photographing the carcass. 

Ranger Nina had to return to the Gatehouse and were joined by Kevin and Christine. But Ed stayed on to help me take down NECWA's portable weighing trips and collect measurements on the carcass. I have measured many ocean sunfish carcasses by myself, but it is so much easier and so much nicer to have excellent company like Eds. We chatted away as we continued to work through the early afternoon.

Ovary removed from the carcass. 
I opened the body cavity to find the gonad in order to determine the sex of this carcass. This was a girl! Unlike most bony fish, ocean sunfish have only 1 gonad. But female ocean sunfish are said to produce the largest number of eggs over the course of their lifetime, over 300 million!

As I continued to work, Ed had to leave to pick up his daughter. With a little extra time on my hands as I waited for Ranger Nina to return, I extracted the entire digestive tract from the carcass. The length of the entire digestive tract from the beginning of the stomach to the end of the large intestine was 21 feet.


Ranger Nina helped me clean up and then we were off to the Gatehouse once again. Thanks so much to Ranger Nina and the other rangers who work under her. What an incredible team! And thanks to Ed for all his help today. Again, I meet the nicest people doing this work with ocean sunfish and am surprised at how knowledgable people are about the natural life around them.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Electric Torpedo Ray of New England

-
Image
The Shocking Ray of New England Blog by  Coleman Earner - December 21, 2020 Dead Torpedo Ray in Brewster, MA Torpedo Rays are a genus of rays that are part of the Order  Torpediniformes (electric rays). In reference to local sightings, the most commonly seen torpedo ray in the Cape Cod region is the Atlantic Torpedo ( Torpedo nobiliana ). They are cartilaginous fish (most similar to the structure of sharks and skates) with a flat and rounded disc-like structure. As suggested by their order, torpedo rays are most commonly known for their ability to discharge electricity of up to 220 volts from both pectoral fins (pectoral fins are flat and expanded and fused to the head area) as a self defense mechanism or as a means of capturing prey. Their feeding strategy consists of burying themselves under the sand and waiting for unsuspecting prey to wander by.  Dead Torpedo Ray on a Cape Cod Beach. Torpedo Rays feed mainly on benthic/pelagic fish such as flounders, damselfish, and other small fis
Read more

Ocean sunfish stranding at Linnell Landing - October 9, 2010

-
Image
This afternoon, Chris called about an ocean sunfish that stranded dead at the end of Linnell Landing in Brewster, MA. Krill Carson along with two NECWA interns, Nick Schomburg and Caitlyn Dionne, headed down or met at Linnell Landing in the late afternoon. When they arrived on the shores of Cape Cod Bay, a crowd was gathering around the ocean sunfish carcass that was just off the beach parking lot. This sunfish was almost 6 feet in length and some of the beachgoers indicated that it had come up on the beach around 2 pm that day. At first, it was difficult to look at the deep propellor scars that cut through the dorsal (top) surface of the sunfish and extended into its left flank. But sunset was quickly approaching so this team focused at the task at hand, that was collecting body measurements as well as tissues from this carcass. Nick and Krill conducted a Level A exam on the carcass and Caitlyn took pictures as well as recorded data. Krill was able to determine that this animal was
Read more

Wareham Classrooms have 2 Headstart Diamondback Terrapins

-
Image
Wareham Classrooms have 2 Headstart Diamondback Terrapins Terrapin Crush prior to this turtle's release.  NECWA was able to work with 2 Wareham Teachers this fall and winter as they participated in our Diamondback Terrapin Headstart program. One teacher, Lara Schofield, works at the high school and has previously participated in NECWA's head start program. The other teacher, Tanya Bungert, a middle school teacher, was new to the program this season.  Over the course of the school year, NECWA staff joined teachers and their students on numerous occasions, providing on-site guidance for caring and documenting the hatchlings. On two occasions , NECWA came into the High School to work with and present lessons on terrapins to the afterschool program run by teacher Lara Schofield. Working directly with students and their teachers is so important for these types of community  projects for it allows NECWA to see how successful our head start programs are.   NECWA would like to thank th
Read more