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 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 oarfish, believed to portend disaster, washed up on a beach in Encinitas last week. Since 1901, only 21 oarfish have been recorded on California’s shores. This is the second this year.