KidScoop.com

Just Plain Weird

Oarfish Discovery

What do you do when you find the body of a fish that is about 18 feet long? Jasmine Santana, a marine science instructor from the Catalina Island Marine Institute, was snorkeling in Toyon Bay on the east side of Catalina Island about an hour from the southern California coast, when she spotted the carcass of an oarfish.

The oarfish is the largest bony fish in the world and it is rare to see one close to shore. They normally live in waters thousands of feet deep. Apparently they can grow to about 50-feet long.

Other members of CIMI were snorkeling in the Bay, and it took about 15 of them to bring it ashore. The Institute runs camps to teach oceanography, kayaking and marine biology and under their parent organization, Guided Discoveries, operate summer camps for children from around the world.

Now the Institute has to decide what to do with their unusual find!

oarfish