A rare deep sea fish, closely resembling a serpent, was discovered floating lifeless on the ocean’s surface near the San Diego coast. The oarfish, measuring 12 feet in length, was spotted by a group of snorkelers and kayakers in La Jolla Cove last weekend. This unusual finding marks only the 20th recorded instance of an oarfish washing up on California shores since 1901, as stated by Ben Frable, a fish expert at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Although oarfish are known for their mythical association with predicting natural disasters or earthquakes, no scientific evidence supports this belief.

Oarfish are known to reach lengths exceeding 20 feet and typically inhabit the mesopelagic zone of the ocean, a deep region where sunlight does not penetrate, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Following its discovery, the oarfish was transported ashore by swimmers on a paddleboard and later moved onto the bed of a pickup truck. Scientists from the NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center and Scripps Institute are planning to conduct a necropsy on Friday to determine the cause of death.