Another Oarfish Carcass Washes Up On California Beach In Oceanside: Is The Second Beached Serpent Part Of A Trend?

A second rare oarfish carcass washed up on a California beach in Oceanside, following another oarfish discovery off Catalina Island. Are the oarfish carcasses part of a trend?

According to NBC News, beach goers at Oceanside Harbor happened upon the oarfish carcass on Friday afternoon. The deep-sea serpent monster's carcass washed ashore, Oceanside Police Officer Mark Bussey said. The fish measured 13 ½ feet long.

The discovery came just days after an 18-foot dead oarfish was found in the waters off Catalina Island.

"It's not the typical fish you see on shore," he said, adding the oarfish probably weighed over 200 pounds.

The oarfish is the largest bony fish in the sea and can grow over 50 feet in length, NBC News reports.

Very little is known about the oarfish species, since it is usually found hundreds or thousands of feet below the surface, reaching depths up to 3,000 feet.  

Jasmine Santana, a marine science instructor, was snorkeling about 15 feet underwater off Catalina Island when she found an 18-foot-long oarfish floating nearby, CNN News reports.

"I was first a little scared," said Santana, who has been working for Catalina Island Marine Institute since January. "But when I realized it was an oarfish, I knew it was harmless."

It took Santana 15 minutes to drag the dead fish ashore, where 14 others helped lift the 400-pound carcass out of the water.

The trend of these washed-up oarfish carcasses is quite puzzling, according to Suzanne Kohin, a scientist with the National Marine Fisheries Service, CNN reports.

"It's so rare to find in Southern California, especially in surface water," Kohin told KGTV. "They thought it was a very rare event the first time, so these two events that we heard of in the last few weeks are the only ones I've ever heard of."

The Catalina Island Marine Institute, a nonprofit marine science education group, said oarfish "are rarely seen, dead or alive."

"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."