A Pacific seahorse was spotted Sunday in the waters of Alamitos Bay in Long Beach, California, a rare sight anywhere north of San Diego.
Southern California diving enthusiast Roger Hanson photographed the
rare sight, the Long Beach Press-Telegram reported.
“I was so excited to have a camera,” Hanson said, according to the newspaper. He has spent about 3,000 hours underwater during 27 years of scuba diving. “It was stunning, because it’s one of your bucket list things.”
The seahorse doesn’t typically appear that far north. Sandy Trautwein of Aquarium of the Pacific said the movement of warmer waters may have coaxed the animal northward.
“It’s rare, I would say, in normal years. But I would say in the past year, because of the warm water influx we’ve had, it isn’t that rare,” she said.
The warm water patterns that come with an El Niño were also credited with the appearance of yellow-bellied sea snakes in southern California last year.
Hanson saw a Pacific seahorse in January, but
didn’t have his camera, KTLA-TV reported. On Sunday he was ready.
“I was shocked because I know that that’s a once in a lifetime moment,” he said.
Hanson stayed in the frigid water too long after spotting the seahorse, ending up with a short
stay in the hospital, CBS Los Angeles reported.
But the diver is eager to return to the water and look for more seahorses.
Twitter users were intrigued by the sighting.
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