A giant oarfish measuring more than 6m has been found by snorkellers off the coast of southern California.
Marine science instructor at the Catalina Island Marine Institute (CIMI) Jasmine Santana was snorkelling near Toyon Bay, Santa Catalina Island, around 40km from the mainland coast, when she saw the carcass of the creature about 10m from the surface.
She managed to drag it towards the shore, before being aided by other CIMI team members wading into the water to help.
Oarfish are rarely seen by people because they live hundreds of metres beneath the surface, and as a result rarely studied by scientists.
Oarfish can gown up to 15m in length and believed to be the basis for many of the myths of sea serpents in history, but because they generally live in waters thousands of feet deep, they are rarely seen alive and are not frequently studied.
