Community Corner

2nd Rare Oarfish Found on Southern California Coast

The 13-and-one-half-foot specimen was found in Oceanside harbor. It is the second oafish found in Southern California in a week.

For the second time in a week, a specimen of an unusual fish once believed to be a sea serpent has been landed in Southern California, the U-T San Diego reported Saturday.

This time, it was at Oceanside where an oarfish was spotted in the ocean, U-T San Diego reported. And this time the specimen was 13-1/2 feet long, according to a Scripps Research Institute researcher who measured the once-undulating beast.

Last Sunday, an 18-foot dead oarfish was found just off Avalon. About a dozen people were needed to carry it ashore for a snapshot.

At 5 p.m. Friday, the shorter oarfish washed onto the southern jetty at the Oceanside Harbor jetty, U-T San Diego reported. This one was spotted by a snorkeler who wrestled the heavy, lifeless fish to shore.

Oarfish live at depths below 3,000 feet, and are rarely seen at the surface. Some have grown to more than 50 feet in length, and they are believed to be the source of ancient folk tales about sea serpents.


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