A group of friends exploring the waters off La Jolla Cove on Saturday came across a sea creature unlike anything they’d ever seen: a 12-foot-long rare fish from the depths of the ocean.
“They are not common here in California,” Frable said, adding that the long, ribbon-like fish are periodically found on beaches around the world, more frequently in the tropics. “These fish are generally living in the deep-sea, open-ocean environment.”
The science-minded group of kayakers and snorkelers immediately notified officials about their find, helping bring the lifeless oarfish onshore for future research.
“People have studied them, but we’ve very rarely interacted with them alive in their natural habitat,” Frable said. He said a team of scientists from Scripps and NOAA will perform a necropsy to try to understand how the fish died, as well as genetic testing to inform further research about the mysterious creatures’ anatomy and habitat and the food chain of the deep sea.
“It’s always been a fish of interest, this long, beautiful silver fish,” Frable said, mentioning its large eyes and red, mane-like crest above its head.