A rare snake-like deep-sea fish has been found dead on the surface of the ocean off the coast of San Diego and was brought ashore for examination, the Associated Press reported, quoted by BTA.
The strap fish is silvery and 3.6 meters long. She was found last weekend by a group of snorkelers and kayakers in La Jolla Bay, north of downtown San Diego. According to expert Ben Frable from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography; this is only the 20th time since 1901 that a striper has surfaced in California. These fish have a mythical reputation as predictors of natural disasters or earthquakes, although no connection has been proven.
According to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the stringer can reach a length of over 6 meters and usually lives in the deep part of the ocean called the mesopelagic zone, where light does not reach.
Swimmers who find the fish take it ashore with a paddle board. Then they transfer her to the back of a pickup truck.
Scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography; they plan to perform an autopsy on her to try to determine the cause of death.