According to NBC News, the ominous creature lives in the depths of the ocean, making it a rare sight. There have been just 21 recorded oarfish sightings near California beaches since 1901. Two of those sightings occurred in 2024—another oarfish washed up on a shore in La Jolla in August.

A rare and almost mythical creature from the deep sea has washed up on a California beach in the form of an oarfish measuring more than 9 feet long!

A rare deep-sea oarfish, also called a sea serpent, washed ashore near San Diego in Encinitas, and Scripps scientists are unsure what happened.

As for why people consider the oarfish to be a “doomsday” fish, NBC News explains that — as oarfish typically dwell in the deep ocean — the appearance of one suggests a coming natural disaster like an earthquake. About 20, for example, washed up prior to an earthquake in Japan in 2011, the country’s worst on record.

SAN DIEGO ( KUSI) — Another oarfish has made its way from the deep sea to the coast of San Diego County in Southern California. Scripps Institution of Oceanography researchers stumbled upon the rare fish, considered the largest vertebrate in the world’s oceans, at Grandview Beach in Encinitas last week.

A rare deep sea fish, regarded as a harbinger of doom, has washed up on a southern California shore. The Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, said one of its PhD students discovered an oarfish on a beach in Encinitas last week that was around nine to ten feet long.

Two incredibly rare - and incredibly strange - oarfish have washed up on California beaches this year. Before now, only 18 had been documented on beaches in the state since 1901. Scientists say changing ocean conditions could have something to do with it.

This month's sighting was only the 21st time the fish has been documented to have washed up in California since 1901, according to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

A member of the Scripps Oceanography team spotted the dead fish outside of San Diego, California. The fish was estimated to be 9 to 10 feet in length, which was much smaller than the one recovered in La Jolla in August.

A rare oarfish, long associated with doomsday myths, has washed ashore in California for the second time this year, sparking speculation about climate change and natural disasters.