ENCINITAS, Calif.—For the second time this year, a rare deep-sea oarfish has washed ashore in San Diego County, giving scientists a chance to study the species without plumbing the depths of the ocean, it was announced Wednesday.
Last week, Scripps Institution of Oceanography PhD candidate Alison Laferriere found the deceased 9.5-foot specimen at Grandview Beach in Encinitas—just the 21st of its species documented to have washed up on California beaches since 1901, officials said.
The previous 12.25-foot long fish was found in August by kayakers and snorkelers in La Jolla Cove.
Ben Frable, manager of the Scripps Oceanography Marine Vertebrate Collection—one of the largest collections of deep-sea fish in the world—contacted the NOAA Fisheries West Coast team to recover the specimen and transport it to the Southwest Fisheries Science Center, according to a Scripps statement….