Whale Watching

Louden Porter

Recently we went out on the boat in search of marine mammals. Many can be found here off the coast of Maine, we located Minke and Fin whales, a large pod of dolphins, and Harbor and Grey seals. However the most interesting specimen that we saw on the trip was a Mola mola also known as the Ocean sunfish. This odd looking fish floats near the surface of the water bathing in the sun, and when it is not bathing it is consuming jellyfish. When this fish was first spotted it had a gull floating close to it picking parasites off of it. This is known as a mutualistic relationship and it occurs when two species come together and both benefit from a certain act . We learned about relationships similar to this one in lecture but witnessing it first hand helped me to better understand it. Not only was this trip a very educational one it also was very enjoyable to see these animals in their natural habitats.