California Diver Captures Photos Of Mysterious Fish Rarely Seen Near the Surface
Ted Judah, a diver from California, recently shared photos of a rare fish sighting on Facebook. While exploring the Monterey Bay, he came across a juvenile king-of-the-salmon (Trachipterus altivelis) only 15 feet beneath the surface. Judah and his wife often go on diving trips, but this time they were treated to an extraordinary view at McAbee Beach. The sighting is especially rare because the fish is usually spotted far from shore, and deep underwater, sometimes as deep as 2,953 feet.
Judah said, "The water was so clear that I elected [to] scan around below as I kicked out and I'm glad I did. I saw this silvery knife blade undulating thing in only about 15 feet of water moving west parallel to shore. I said to my wife, 'There's something amazing here.'" Initially, he thought it was an oarfish (doomsday fish), which is also a deep-sea creature. He added, "I wanted to stay with it, but I felt like I was harassing it. It had this keen ability to orient itself so that [its] narrowest profile was always facing me. I'd try to swim [alongside] to get the profile and it would rotate away from me. I am so honored to see it."
Unable to identify it, Judah asked for help, and the post was flooded with comments. Among them, Kevin Lewand, a marine biologist from Monterey Bay Aquarium, commented that the unknown fish is the juvenile deepwater ribbonfish, known as the "king-of-the-salmon." Leeward added, "The king-of-the-salmon (Trachipterus altivelis) is a rare, deep-sea ribbonfish known for its long, silvery body and large eyes." He concluded by saying that it was only the second time this rare creature was spotted in 2025.
Despite its name, "king-of-the-salmon" is not related to salmon at all. It has a long, silvery, blade-like body and a tall, flowing dorsal fin that runs along its back, giving it an almost otherworldly look. Adults can grow up to about 6 feet in length. Because of its deep-water habitat, most documented encounters happen when individuals are accidentally caught in deep-sea fishing gear or found washed ashore, often already dead. The fish also carries cultural significance as its name comes from an indigenous Makah legend. As per the myth, the "king-of-the-salmon" guided salmon during their migrations. Altogether, a live, near-surface sighting offers a rare glimpse into a species that normally remains hidden in one of the ocean's least accessible zones, the twilight zone, where sunlight barely reaches. This is one such encounter that is truly a once-in-a-lifetime event.
Since oarfish and "king-of-the-salmon" have a similar ribbon-like appearance, it is easy to confuse the two, despite them belonging to different scientific families. However, when the oarfish, also called the "doomsday fish", is sighted near the surface or washed ashore, legends associate it with omens of earthquakes, tsunamis, or other natural disasters. Because these fish normally live deep in the ocean, far beyond human sight, their sudden appearance was historically seen as a warning sign that something was wrong beneath the sea. However, it should be noted that there is no proven scientific link between deep-sea fish sightings and natural disasters.
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