An oarfish was found dead this week on Catalina Island off Los Angeles, and the creature was measured to be about 13.5 feet in length.
Oarfish are rarely seen as they tend to live in the deep, open oceans waters. Not the most pleasant in appearance, it is believed the animal inspired many sea myths of ocean
monsters as they can grow up to 20 feet length, CNN reported.
Catalina Island Conservancy conservationist Amy Catalano was performing a bird survey with a co-worker Monday morning when she spotted the serpent-like animal on the shore below a bluff.
“It was amazing, it felt like a movie prop, it looked
make-believe almost,” Catalano told Reuters.
Annie MacAulay, CEO of Mountain and Sea Adventures, has heard the legends of the creature for 20 years and finally saw the washed-up fish resembling the oar of a galley ship for the first time while taking students on an educational kayaking excursion, according to CNN.
“Seeing the oarfish yesterday was indeed one of the highlights of my 25-year career as a marine science educator,” MacAulay told CNN. “Being able to see and touch the longest species of bony fish was amazing.”
According to MacAulay, the fish’s tail had been maimed as though another animal tried to eat it. Birds have been nipping at the eyes of the fish since it landed on the shore of Emerald Bay.
An oarfish was lasted spotted on the island in October 2013.
“It is believed that oarfish dive over 3,000 feet deep, which leaves them largely unstudied, and little is known about their behavior or population,” the Catalina Island Marine Institute said at the time, according to CNN.
The remains of the new oarfish discovery have been sent to California State University in Fullerton where assistant professor of biological science Misty Paig-Tran and her students will study them.
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