A rarely seen deep sea fish is found in California, and scientists want to know why

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A rarely seen deep sea fish resembling a serpent was found floating dead on the ocean surface off the San Diego coast and was brought ashore for study, marine experts said. The silvery, 12-foot-long (3.6-meter) oarfish was found last weekend by a group of snorkelers and kayakers in La Jolla Cove, north of downtown San Diego, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography said in a statement.

It's only the 20th time an oarfish is known to have washed up in California since 1901, according to institution fish expert Ben Frable. Scripps noted that oarfish have a mythical reputation as predictors of natural disasters or earthquakes, although no correlation has been proven. Oarfish can grow longer than 20 feet (6 meters) and normally live in a deep part of the ocean called the mesopelagic zone, where light cannot reach, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration .

Swimmers brought the La Jolla Cove oarfish to shore atop a paddleboard. It was then transferred to the bed of a pickup truck. Scientists from NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center and Scripps planned a necropsy on Friday to try to determine the cause of death.

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