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A rarely seen deep sea fish is found in California, and scientists want to know why
By Associated Press,
23 hours ago
SAN DIEGO — 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 oarfish was found this month 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.
A team of researchers and science-minded snorkelers work Aug. 10 to recover a dead oarfish from La Jolla Cove, Calif.
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, though no correlation has been proven.
Oarfish can grow longer than 20 feet 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.
In most cases, travelers must obtain a non-resident fishing license to go fishing out-of-state. From the late 1960s through the 1980s, the share of annual state fishing licenses held by non-residents remained steady at 15% or less each year. However, since the 1990s, that figure has increased: after a brief decline due to COVID-19, the proportion of licenses held by non-residents spiked to a record-setting 22.3% in 2022, or nearly 9.4 million total. To determine the most popular fishing travel destinations in the U.S., researchers calculated the number of fishing licenses, tags, permits, and stamps held by out-of-state residents in each state, then ranked them accordingly. The latest licensing data is for apportionment year 2024, which reflects license sales that occurred in 2022.
A team of researchers and science-minded snorkelers work Aug. 10 to recover a dead oarfish from La Jolla Cove, Calif.
A team of researchers and snorkelers work Aug. 10 to recover a dead oarfish from La Jolla Cove, Calif.
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