These rare and mysterious deepsea fish are washing up in California, and no one's sure why

Closeup on the head of a dead fish stretched out on the beach at sunset. It's silvery pink with long, string-like pink appendages on its head and belly, with pink dorsal fins along the length of its back. It resembles an eel or a serpent.

A 3.3-metre oarfish — an elusive deepsea creature shaped like an eel — washed up earlier this month in California. Also known as a "doomsday fish," this is the third one to wash ashore in as many months.