Sea serpent found off Catalina, California!

[robertarak]

OK, it's really an Oarfish, but it's 18 feet long!

18-Foot Oarfish Found on Catalina Amazes Scientists, Campers | KTLA 5

 

[tracydr]

Unbelievable! I would love to see one of them. It's related to a herring?

 

[pocky21]

That's a lot of eel sauce!

 

[drbill]

Yawn. We see one or two of these every decade out here. Tee hee.

Seriously, I was approached by a friend who had been out kayaking Saturday and saw this off Rattlesnake Canyon (about a mile from Toyon Bay). It was still alive when she saw it and she wanted me to go out and film it. I declined due to logistics issues and prior commitments, but it certainly is an interesting find.

About two years ago kayakers from Descanso Beach Ocean Sports found one and called me in to ID it. I wrote a column about it: Paddlers Find Their Oar. Of course it was MUCH smaller than this one!

 

[Bogtrotter]

What an amazing animal. Incredible the way it undulates the dorsal fin in the water... and to think it can grow to around three times the length!

 

[Teamcasa]

That's one huge fish! I'd love to see one - living - when I dive Catalina.

 

[Candiru]

According to legend, one of these washing ashore is a harbinger for natural disaster. The last one that showed up was in Cozumel proceeding the Fukushima incident.

 

[Doomnova]

Scary thing is they can get upto 11m(36 ft long).

 

[drbill]

There are some reports of maximum lengths in the 50-60 ft range