Jasmine Santana, a marine science instructor at Catalina Island Marine Institute, was snorkeling off the coast of Southern California on Sunday when she found an 18-foot-long oarfish about 15 feet under the water. Santana quickly noticed that the fish was dead, and decided to drag the carcass back to shore. “I was first a little scared,” she said. “But when I realized it was an oarfish, I knew it was harmless.”
The dead fish weighed about 400 pounds, and when she reached the shore of Toyon Bay, Santana needed the help of 14 other people to get the fish out of the water. Mark Waddington, the senior captain of the school’s sailing vessel commented: “I was really amazed. It’s the first time I ever witnessed an oarfish this big.”
It was truly an exciting find, as even marine scientists hardly ever see oarfish. “Oarfish are found in all temperate to tropical waters, but are rarely seen, dead or alive,” CIMI said in a release. “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.”
Waddington said that the fish’s carcass is being preserved in ice, though CIMI has sent tissues and samples to other marine scientists who will try to learn more about the mysterious fish.
