A rare oarfish, believed to portend disaster, washed up on a beach in Encinitas last week. Since 1901, only 21 oarfish have been recorded on California’s shores. This is the second this year.

A rare deep sea fish, regarded as a harbinger of doom, has washed up on a southern California shore. The Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, said one of its PhD students discovered an oarfish on a beach in Encinitas last week that was around nine to ten feet long.

A rare fish, regarded as a harbinger of doom, has washed up on the shore of Encinitas in southern California. It is the second time this year that an oarfish has been found in the area. Sightings are very rare, with fewer than a couple of dozen having been seen on the state’s coast in 120 years.