Larger-Than-Usual Jellies, Mola Mola End Up at North Oregon Coast's Hug Point

Published 9/11/24 at 6:55 a.m.
By Andre' GW Hagestedt, Oregon Coast Beach Connection

(Cannon Beach, Oregon) – It's been a summer of cool things washing up on the Oregon coast, and it turns out some of these things just get better with time. Or at least bigger. (All photos courtesy Seaside Aquarium's Tiffany Boothe: above, a larger moon jelly)

While it's not groundbreaking, Seaside Aquarium's found this bundle of finds near Cannon Beach interesting. A Mola mola had washed ashore and a lot of moon jellies that were larger than usual hit Hug Point recently.

“A 6.9-foot Mola mola has washed ashore at Hug Point,” Boothe said. “It is currently directly in front of the waterfall. It had been dead for a while before washing in. There were a lot of people around checking it out.”

The moon jellies were of particular interest: a bit bigger than you often seen them.

“There were also numerous dinner plate-size moon jellies on the beach,” Boothe said.

Normally, moon jellies are a bit less in size than that.

So why the bigger ones now?

Seaside Aquarium manager Keith Chandler told Oregon Coast Beach Connection they've had some time to grow out there.

“It's later in the season so things are going to be bigger,” Chandler said.

Mola mola are not rare off the Oregon coast: they're seen a lot in the waters. They just don't show up that often onshore, so it has typically been considered a bit rare. Until now, anyway.

However, Boothe and aquarium manager Keith Chandler begun to rethink that quite a bit, noting there have been more reports lately. There are a lot more eyes out on there on the coast and now most if not all those pairs of eyes have cellphones.

“I think that we may be getting more reports because of the stir that the Mola tecta caused when it washed in,” Boothe said. “People are aware that we are interested in documenting these strandings and collecting information from them.“

There could well have been many more strandings in the past along the coastline that the aquarium was never informed about until recent years.

Mola mola

However, one Mola mola that showed up earlier in the year turned out to be a rare discovery on the Oregon coast. That now-famous fish was a Mola tecta, the Hoodwinker Sunfish. It was a scientific first for the year – at least having this one confirmed. Scientific First for Oregon Coast: New Kind of Sunfish Confirmed at Gearhart

“There are three different species of sunfish in the genus Mola: Mola mola, Mola tecta, and Mola alexandrini,” Boothe said. “All three can be found all over the globe and are widely distributed throughout the world's oceans, except for the polar regions.”

Only in recent years was the Mola tecta discovered to exist, and it seems it was likely around here all along.

This has also been the summer of a lot of Lion's mane jellyfish, with coastal social media showing many posts of the brightly-colored jelly all over the region.

“They are not uncommon to the area,” Boothe said. “Certain ocean conditions can cause localized blooms resulting in specific areas having a higher concentration of the species than normal.”

Lion's mane jellies are something to be a little cautious around, however. Even when dead, their tentacles can sting a bit – and those with allergies to that are vulnerable. Part of the problem there is that many don't know they're allergic to jelly stings until it actually occurs. Lion's Mane Jellyfish Washing Up Could Still Sting: Oregon Coast Visitors Should Be Careful

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