ONE of the ocean's most mysterious creatures has been spotted in the waters by three Weymouth kayakers.

Brian Reynolds, aged 43 and from Preston in Weymouth, captured the rare sight of the Ocean Sunfish - also known as Mola mola - on Friday, August 7, while kayaking off Bowleaze Cove with two friends.

At first the men thought it was a shark, with a fin flapping about in the water heading towards them - but as it got closer they realised it belonged to something much more interesting.

Mr Reynolds said: "I was about half way out to the ships with my pals Paul and Gary. We were attempting to fish but caught nothing.

"Gary found it first and thought it was a small shark, with a fin flapping above the water. Paul shouted for me to come and look and I thought it was injured at first, but once close enough I remembered it from a David Attenborough programme.

"It was probably eating the jellyfish around there. We didn't see it eat the jellyfish but that's its favourite food and there were plenty around.

"It swam around us for 10 minutes then it left so we went back to not catching any fish in our own special way."

Mola mola is the heaviest bony fish in the world and can grow up to 13ft and weigh more than two tons. The heaviest mola on record is a female caught in 1996 that weighed a whopping 2.5-tons - the

size of a fully-grown white rhinoceros.