A Rare Deep-Sea Creature Washed Ashore in California, Scientists Are Still Struggling to Explain Why

Jordan Coronel was fishing at South Ponto State Beach in Carlsbad on a February morning in 2025 when he spotted something strange on the sand. It initially reminded him of a jellyfish because it was round and gelatinous. Then he approached. An antenna-like structure protruded from its head, and its mouth was open and full of jagged, sharp teeth. It was a black, slimy, obviously dead creature that came from a very distant place. After taking a picture of it and contacting the marine biology community online, he eventually made contact with Ben Frable of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

It was a Pacific footballfish, a deep-sea anglerfish that typically inhabits an environment with very little light and food between 1,000 and 4,000 feet below the ocean’s surface. The identification was verified by Frable, who oversees Scripps’ Marine Vertebrate Collection.

This specific footballfish is one of the approximately 6,000 fish species in the collection, some of which date back to the 1880s. It wasn’t the first, Frable pointed out. According to his calculations, three of the seven Pacific footballfish that have washed up on the West Coast since 2021 were in San Diego County. Seven in four years is a remarkable cluster considering that there are only a few dozen specimens of this species in laboratories worldwide.

There are other deep-sea creatures that frequently appear on Californian beaches besides footballfish. The oarfish, a long, ribbon-shaped fish with bright red spines on its head that can grow up to 11 meters in length and is the longest bony fish in the world, has been showing up with an equally unusual regularity. At La Jolla Cove, a small inlet close to San Diego, in August 2024, a team of divers found one that was over three meters long and already dead. On social media, the Scripps Institution posted pictures of the interaction. Ben Frable claims that since 1901, there have only been 20 reports of oarfish washing up in California. Los Angeles was hit by a 4.4 magnitude earthquake two days after the discovery of La Jolla.

The enduring folklore surrounding oarfish throughout the Pacific has been fueled by this timing. The creature is referred to as “ryugu no tsukai” in Japanese tradition, which means “messenger from the palace of the dragon king.” According to legend, oarfish emerge prior to earthquakes and other natural calamities. With every new sighting, the theory spreads, creating headlines that portray the fish as either data points or omens.

According to Rachel Grant, an animal biology professor at Anglia Ruskin University, it is “theoretically possible” that electrically charged ions could be released into water by seismic pressure building in rocks, potentially upsetting deep-sea species and pushing them upward. Though speculative, it’s a possible mechanism. After analyzing the available data, the Ecuadorian Geophysical Institute concluded that there was no causal relationship. Research up until 2022 hasn’t shown a definite relationship. The earthquake that occurred two days after the discovery of La Jolla may have significance, or it may just be the result of being in one of the most seismically active areas of the planet, where events happen simultaneously without contributing to one another.

Marine scientists are more certain that these strandings are opportunities rather than forecasts. The kind of biological information that deep-sea research cannot readily obtain in any other way is provided when a footballfish or oarfish washes ashore in a condition suitable for preservation. In 1833, the first anglerfish to be officially described by science was discovered washed up on a beach in Greenland. Because live observation at depth is still difficult and costly, the majority of what is known about the biology of these animals has come from dead specimens. In a sense, Frable’s collection at Scripps is a library of these mishaps—animals that perished and came ashore instead of decomposing in the dark, allowing scientists to examine their anatomy, digestive systems, parasites, and isotope ratios that provide insight into their habitats.

With the candor that characterizes scientists talking about things they don’t fully understand, Frable has stated, “We don’t really know,” when asked why the frequency of these strandings seems to be rising in Southern California. It might have something to do with the aging fish life cycle. “Maybe have something to do with their life cycle,” he said, referring to the large size and likely age of many of the specimens discovered. Off the coast of Southern California, where El Niño cycles and longer-term warming trends have changed the thermocline and the layering of water masses, it might be related to variations in ocean temperature or current patterns. The availability of the krill and small crustaceans that these animals consume may have changed. There are plenty of plausible explanations, but none of them have sufficient proof to declare the case resolved.

Watching this unfold on beaches that millions of people visit for a day at the ocean and leave with the impression that they understand what the ocean contains has a subtle allure. On a Wednesday morning, a fisherman happened to spot the Carlsbad footballfish on the sand at a state beach and get in touch with the appropriate authorities. It would have broken down or washed back out if he hadn’t. These encounters are the ocean offering something up, and whether or not scientists can make enough of those offerings to truly explain the pattern depends on individuals like Jordan Coronel paying attention and then, crucially, contacting a marine biologist rather than discarding it.

If someone finds something unusual on a California beach, Frable advises them to locate the closest lifeguard, explain what they discovered, and let them take care of the calls. While the creatures that emerge from the dark depths may not know why they are here, the scientists who are waiting for them are eager to learn.