SAN DIEGO — Of the waters that cover most of this great blue marble, humans have only scratched the surface of exploring the world’s oceans. The depths below- dark, cold and inhospitable to most life.
So when something from the deep washed up on Swami’s Beach Friday - Marine Biologists, like Ben Frable at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, jump at the chance to examine something that many don’t get to see.
"Anglerfish are rarely encountered, they tend to live generally below 2000 feet or so," says Frable "This particular individual is a pretty big one. About the size of a soccer ball. Hence it's name."
The Pacific Football fish might look like it’s from a different planet. With it’s razor-sharp teeth and glowing lure on top of it’s head, this pretty lady is rarely seen by humans. To you it might look like an alien but to Frable, it’s a perfect example of how anglerfish survive in the depths below.
"These animals are adapted for living, you can think of it as a pitch black desert. It's very cold and under a lot of pressure." says Frable
But believe it or not this is the second Football fish to show up on a San Diego beach in two month. A beach goer took a picture at Black’s last month and in early December a deep sea Lancetfish was found in La Jolla. So why are the creatures from the deep washing up on our beaches?
"That's a question that I wish I knew the answer to," says Frable "I can say this probably is not related to any sort of freak event like the oil spill that recently happened or some sort of maybe testing or a sonic boom or anything like that. We wouldn't just see one random really rare fish washing up we'd see a bunch of other marine organisms on the beach."
When something rare does wash up on shore, it gives researchers like Frable a chance to learn more about our mysterious oceans and the amazing creatures that live at it’s depths.
WATCH RELATED: Rare anglerfish spotted on San Diego beach (Nov 23, 2021)