Radiation from Japan’s nuclear meltdowns? Radioactive particles released in the nuclear reactor meltdown in Fukushima, Japan, following the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami were detected in giant kelp in the California coast according to a 2012 published study. Global climate change? Are the warmer waters affecting these animals and/or their food sources? It certainly could be coincidence, but could these strandings be a sign of something more? Scientists have analyzed tissue samples from the initial oarfish discovered in Catalina and have concluded it died of natural causes. Needless to say, both the oarfish and the beaked whale are very much under observed and understudied, especially in the shallow waters of Southern California.Ī necropsy was performed on the whale- no signs of disease or parasites. The beaked whale home range is subarctic waters of the North Pacific from the Bering Sea south to Japan and central California with the center of its distribution around the Aleutian Islands. Oarfish are found in temperate and tropical waters but are thought to dive more than 3,000 feet deep. What does this mean? All sources admit that each of these is an extremely rare find in itself. Oarfish found off of Catalina Island by marine science instructors at Catalina Island Marine Instituteģ deep sea creatures washed ashore in California within a week: coincidence or an indication of abiotic stresses?Īn 18 foot long oarfish was found dead in the waters off of Catalina Island in California on Sunday October 13 th, on October 16 th a Stejneger’s beaked whale (also known as a saber-toothed whale) washed ashore on Los Angeles’ Venice Beach, and a second oarfish, this one 14 ft long, was found dead on the beach of Oceanside, California on October 18 th.
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