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 oarfish, also called a sea serpent, washed ashore near San Diego in Encinitas, and Scripps scientists are unsure what happened.

A member of the Scripps Oceanography team spotted the dead fish outside of San Diego, California. The fish was estimated to be 9 to 10 feet in length, which was much smaller than the one recovered in La Jolla in August.