NECWA News Blog

Ocean Sunfish Strandings for 2012. Hot off the Press! Google Maps of Ocean Sunfish Strandings for 2012 With a little down time on my hands, I wanted to use Google Earth and plot the location of each of the 39 ocean sunfish that stranded dead this season. As you see, most stranded along the shores of Cape Cod, those that border Cape Cod Bay. But a few individuals stranded along the shores of Buzzards Bay and many of our live animals that we rescued were in this area. The top map shows all strandings of dead animals for the 2012 season. To date, we were able to locate and examine 39 carcasses. Three additional carcasses were reported to NECWA, but we were not able to get to those carcasses before the tide washed them offshore. This is the highest number of stranded animals of any season to date and almost twice as many as last season. The bottom maps show close-ups of specific areas that turned out to be hot spots for strandings this season. 2012 Ocean Su

Jamie with the carcass at Breakwater Beach, Brewster MA This morning, my son Jamie and I headed down to Cape Cod to locate and necropsy a dead ocean sunfish that had been reported to NECWA the night before. Volunteers with Mass Audubon at Wellfleet Bay who were walking the beaches for stranded sea turtles had come across a dead stranded ocean sunfish that had washed up on Breakwater Beach in Brewster. Jamie recording the weight of the sunfish. As we drove south on Route 3, my cell phone started ringing off the hook as additional ocean sunfish carcasses were being reported in Brewster and Eastham. By the end of the day, we were able to determine that a total of 6 dead ocean sunfish had stranded dead on the beaches of Cape Cod. When all was said and done, we were able to locate and examine 5 carcasses and all were females! Bruce, Jamie, Kelly and Mary collecting body measurements.  In an effort to get some additional help with what was turning out to be a very busy day, I

Today my son Jamie and I headed to Wareham to pick up a sea turtle that had been reported as stranded in that area. As we headed south on Route 495, my son asked me if the turtle would be alive. I said I did not know, but we could only hope that it was. When we arrived on site, we were met by local residence David, Jay, Nat and Suze who directed us to the location of the sea turtle on the beach. We found a medium-sized loggerhead sea turtle at the high tide line, but unfortunately, it did not appear to be alive. We put the turtle in the truck and thanked everyone for their amazing help. And then off Jamie and I went to Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary to deliver the loggerhead to Bob Prescott and his team. Jamie with the loggerhead as we arrive at Wellfleet Bay.  Bob Prescott and his staff which included Molly, Tom and Michael weighed the loggerhead (approx. 40 lbs.) and collected a number of external body measurements. This carcass will now go into the

Ocean Sunfish carcass off South Sunken Meadow, Eastham MA Today Krill was able to locate and necropsy two medium-sized ocean sunfish that stranded on Cape Cod. The first fish had stranded in South Sunken Meadow and had been reported to Mass Audubon at Wellfleet Bay on Monday, December 10th. This fish had stranded on the tip of the sand spit leading into the marsh area. Krill was not able to weigh this fish for it was too far from a road access. But she was able to collect photographs, body measurements as well as conduct an internal examination. As she was finishing the necropsy on this animal, she received a call from Jim Mullin in Brewster. Jim had contacted Krill the day before about a mola carcass off Seaway Road in Brewster. Jim was kind enough to return to the carcass at night at the next low tide and collect photos in case the carcass floated offshore on the next incoming tide. Photo by Jim Mullin. Photo by Jim Mullin. Photo by Jim Mullin. Ji

On December 10, 2012 the NECWA team (Krill and Tammy) headed out to South Sunken Meadow in Eastham to look for an ocean sunfish carcass that was reported in that area. Helping out was Michael Sprague from Mass Audubon at Wellfleet Bay. When the team go on site, we were really surprised to find a tiny carcass when compared to the other carcasses that we have seen over the course of this research and rescue project. This is the smallest ocean sunfish that we have ever recorded for it was less than 2 feet and weighing only 40 lbs. All other carcasses have been monsters when compared to this little peanut of a fish! For comparison, the next carcass we examined and necropsied that same day had stranded in Provincetown as was over 6 feet in length and was so massive that we couldn't weigh it with our scale. We estimated that this larger carcass must have weighed over 1000 lbs. Provincetown ocean sunfish carcass.  When Krill saw this tiny ocean sunfish, she immediately ga