Oceanic sunfish—or mola mola—are occasionally seen by sailors or fishermen as they “sunbathe” at the surface. Often times, their dorsal fins are mistaken for those of sharks. While surface sightings are not infrequent, opportunities to dive with them are quite rare. For several months each year off a small island southeast of Bali, mola mola congregate in considerable numbers, allowing divers an excellent chance to interact with these reclusive creatures. “The mola mola come very regularly to a site called the Blue Corner at Nusa Lembongan,” Roger Munns explanied. “You’re almost guaranteed to see one there. Oddly enough, I used to go to Bali for surfing, and one of the great breaks was at a place called Shipwrecks. Shipwrecks is only fifty or one hundred yards away from the Blue Corner—though until recently, the sunfishes’ visits to Blue Corner were not well documented.”
Bali is the best known of the islands of Indonesia, thanks to its popularity as a tourist destination. Its steep volcanic mountains and pristine white-and-black-sand beaches are the picture of tropical bliss. Nusa Lembongan is twelve miles from Bali, resting in the midst of the Lombok Strait, along with its neighbors, Nusa Penida and Nusa Ceningan. This strait is part of the Indonesian Throughflow, a key point for water exchange between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. (The section of the Lombok Strait between Bali and Lembongan is called the Badung Strait.) Lembongan is also situated almost directly along the Wallace Line (named for British naturalist Sir Alfred Wallace), which designates the biological division between Asia and Australia/Oceania. Being in the path of the Indonesian Throughflow, the currents around Lembongan can be extremely strong; it’s not terrain for beginners. Thanks to the currents, which funnel cold water upwellings from a deep trench north of Nusa Penida, water temperatures can vary wildly, by as much as ten to fifteen degrees. “The thermaclines are incredible,” Roger continued. “You can extend your hand and the water can be eight or ten degrees cooler. It’s quite mad! The great currents also carry tremendous quantities of macrobiotic life past Lembongan, which nurtures coral and fish life and starts a chain of feeding.”
The waters around Lembongan boast healthy reefs and even opportunities to observe fine macro life, and the island’s proximity to strong flows and deep water make it a regular stomping ground for pelagics—manta and eagle rays, white-tip and black-tip shark, tuna, and giant trevally among them. But it’s the excellent odds of swimming with mola mola that draws many divers to Lembongan. The word “mola” is Latin for millstone, and the added emphasis of two millstones speaks to the density of the strange creatures. (Their German name—Schwimmender kopf—translates as “swimming head,” and that says a lot!) Nearly as tall as they are long, mola mola average a ton and change in weight, with some specimens growing as large as several tons, with a height (including fins) of more than ten feet. Lacking proper tails, they propel their girth along by moving their dorsal and anal fins in a sculling motion. To maintain their weight, mola mola consume vast amounts of jellyfish; they are in turn preyed upon by orcas, sea lions, and larger sharks. Research suggests they spend most of their time at depths of over 600 feet, though relatively little is known about their habits. The fish seem averse to cooler water temperatures (in the low fifties); some believe their basking behavior could be a means of warming up.
There are several spots around Lembongan where mola mola are regularly found in the summer months, but Blue Corner is the most reliable—and best known (it’s variously known as Jurassic or Ental Point). “There’s a sloping reef at the top section, with a proliferation of soft and hard coral,” Roger explained. “You follow the current around a corner, and then there’s a vertical wall that drops to one hundred feet and more. This is the spot where you see the mola mola.” The sunfish come into the relative shallows against the reef to be cleaned of parasites by schools of bannerfish who comb them of the small critters that call them home. “They’ll rise and settle anywhere between thirty and 130 feet, and point their nose toward the surface at a forty-five-degree angle,” Roger continued, “and the bannerfish will rise to meet them. Considering the size of the mola mola and the number of parasites they carry, it’s a huge feed; butterfly fish also come in for a bite. While they’re being cleaned, the mola mola are very approachable, even placid. But when they’re coming into cleaning stations, they’re very skittish. Sometimes divers will rush out to meet them, and they’re out of there like a bat out of hell. The bottom line is, be patient and wait for the cleaning process to begin before you approach.” The best conditions for encountering mola mola are when there’s enough tidal flow to draw them in, but not so much as to spoil visibility.
“My best interaction with a mola mola came while filming a segment of Great Ocean Adventures with Monty Halls,” Roger added. “Fellow Scubazooer Simon Christopher was filming Monty; I was taking photographs. We had one animal that was oblivious to us, at about one hundred feet down. We swam around with him for almost thirty minutes. He swam about the reef a bit, then would stop for a clean. We’d switch off; I’d shoot, then Simon would shoot. It was really bizarre to have that kind of opportunity. That one dive I had more time with a mola mola than all the other days put together.”
ROGER MUNNS is a senior cameraman with Scubazoo (www.scubazoo.com). Before joining Scubazoo, he traveled extensively, surfing and snowboarding; it was during a flat surf spell in Byron Bay that Roger took the opportunity to learn to dive. Since then, diving has been his main passion. Roger has been involved in a number of Scubazoo’s broadcast productions, including projects for the BBC’s natural history unit, the World Wildlife Fund, Dorling Kindersley, and Four Seasons hotels and resorts. Roger is also an accomplished underwater photographer; his photos and articles have appeared in many publications around the world, as well as in Scubazoo’s first coffee table book, Sipadan, Mabul, and Kapalai—Sabah’s Underwater Treasure. He particularly enjoys the color and abstract shapes that can be found in macrophotography. Roger studied mathematics at Nottingham University.
Getting There: First you’ll need to get to Densapar, Bali, which is served from Los Angeles by China Airlines and Cathay Pacific. From Densapar, you’ll need to take a boat to Lembongan; your hotel can generally arrange boat service.
Best Time to Visit: The rainy season is from December to February; the weather is very consistent the remainder of the year. Mola mola are present July through October.
Accommodations: World Diving Lembongan lists a range of lodging options on their Website (www.world-diving.com).
Dive Shops/Guides: There are several dive operators on Lembongan, including World Diving Lembongan (+62 81-239-00686; www.world-diving.com).