I want To Tell You A Story

 It's a story I've been telling people visiting Strumble for years and it's all about the Sun Fish. We regularly see sun fish throughout August and into September. This year we had an early flush with several spotted in the first two weeks of July. They pass leisurely on the tide waving their dorsal fin like a rower skulling a small boat. Now and again though they will lie over on their side and flap their fins as if waving. To all intents and purposes it looks like they are taking in the sun, but why then do it on even the dullest of days with no sun at all. 

The truth is they are big animals and swim very slowly so are an attractive target for marine parasites. So the odd surface behaviour has a reason. Not being able to rid itself of these parasites it illicits the help of passing gulls. Once attracted the gulls hover and dip, picking off these annoying creatures and by doing so bring relief to the sun fish. If the gulls land on the water nearby the sun fish will often swim to them and present itself for cleaning. Some people seem amazed at such behaviour but it is only one of many symbiotic relationships that lots of animals have. 

Today I managed to capure the behaviour on camera and I'm delighted to be able to show you all the sequence of events.