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 long, ribbon-shaped oarfish, rarely seen and believed to signal disaster, has washed up on California’s shores for the second time this year. PhD candidate Alison Laferriere from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego discovered the nearly 10-foot-long oarfish on a beach in Encinitas, in southern California, last week.

For the second time this year, a deep-sea oarfish has washed ashore in San Diego County, giving scientists a rare chance to study the species.

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. They inhabit the depths of the ocean in a region known as the mesopelagic zone,