A rare and almost mythical creature from the deep sea has washed up on a California beach in the form of an oarfish measuring more than 9 feet long!

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.

This month's sighting was only the 21st time the fish has been documented to have washed up in California since 1901, according to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.