What is your favorite bizarre fact about the mola (giant ocean sunfish)?
Everything about the mola is rather bizarre. The fact that its spinal cord is shorter than its brain is rather odd as is the discovery that a single 1.2 meter mola can produce an estimated 300 million eggs in her single ovary is rather astounding. Discovering that mola can repeatedly dive to depths more than 700m, and the fact that mola can reach such huge sizes—2,200 kg—on a diet primarily of jellies, is remarkable as well. Q: What are you working on now? A: I am writing up the findings from our mola-tagging work around the world, helping push for the implementation of a marine reserve in Bali, Indonesia, and preparing to tag some more fish in the Galapagos later this year. I am also working with National Geographic’s Kids Television group to develop a series about water for PBS. I have several children’s book in the workings, a book on sunfish, and a book about education in the mix. Lastly, I am developing and fund-raising for a teen mentoring conference called The Big Fish conferenc
