SAN DIEGO — A massive, rarely seen sea creature was discovered in La Jolla Cove last weekend.
Kayakers and snorkelers in the water at La Jolla Cove found a dead oarfish, measuring nearly 12 feet in length. The discovery is only the 20th time the deep-sea creature has washed up in California since 1901.
"That's long! Wow that's the biggest fish I've ever seen it looks like an eel. That's insane," said a group of beachgoers looking at a photo of the oarfish.
According to Scripps Institution of Oceanography, oarfish have been long described as sea serpents throughout history.
The mysterious creature is known in some areas of the world as the Doomsday fish and has a mythical reputation to predict natural disasters.
"They wash up on the beach before or after a major earthquake or tsunami and this has been centuries in Japanese mythology and folklore," said Ben Frable, with Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
The rare find will allow scientists the chance to further study and analyze the species. The specimen will become part of the Marine Vertebrate Collection at Scripps, CBS 8 has learned.
Scripps Institution says its scientists along with scientists from NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center will perform a necropsy Friday to determine the cause of death.
“Experts don’t have any evidence to theorize why these fish are washing ashore in Southern California, but learn more from each specimen that is collected,” Scripps said.
If you ever find a unique sea creature on the shore, you are encouraged to:
- Alert the lifeguards
- Notify Scripps Institution of Oceanography at scrippsnews@ucsd.edu or (858) 534-3624
WATCH RELATED: Deep sea oarfish found in Coronado in 1996 and 2000 in Sea of Cortez, Baja