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The sea is teeming with strange and trivial - learn creatures , but now and again these enigmas from the deep wash ashore . Sometimes those strandings work out a mystery and other times they raise more query than they answer . This year was no unlike , with ghoulish bulb - headed fish , a rotting " mermaid " and mystifying - inhabit pregnant shark pour with embryos all make appearances on beach this year .

Pacific footballfish

A ghoulish - looking Pisces with prickly skin washed up on a beach in Southern California and no one knows why .

Experts from theCalifornia Department of Fish and Wildlifeidentified a nightmarish creature that wash ashore Oct. 17 at Moro Beach , California as a distaff Pacific footballfish ( Himantolophus sagamius ) . This uncommon lotte usually exist at depths of 2,000 to 3,300 feet ( 600 to 1,000 m ) in the Pacific Ocean .

The hanging lure on its head is predict anillicium , and just like a fishing decoy , it stretches out from the Pisces spine and glows to tempt quarry . Once it lures that prey , it gobbles them up using semitransparent phonograph needle - sharp fangs .

A close up picture of the Pacific footballfish showing its sharp teeth.

Pacific footballfish (Himantolophus sagamius) usually live at depths of 2,000 to 3,300 feet (600 to 1,000 meters) in the Pacific Ocean.

Pilot whales in Scotland

In July , around 55 long - fin original whales ( Globicephala melas ) stranded on a distant beachon the Isle of Lewis in Scotland .

On Traigh Mhor beach , local authorities tried for 60 minutes to refloat the whales , but only successfully rescued one . The difference were euthanized . research worker surmise that the pod followed after a female whale that beach herself while attempt to give birth , according to a statement from theBritish Divers Marine Life Rescue .

A healthy great white shark

On Oct. 5 , aseemingly healthy great white sharkwas seen thrash in shallow water before cryptically run aground on Broad Cove Beach in Nova Scotia . It finally died , and even after a necropsy , scientists do n’t live what kill the brute .

Longnose lancetfish

In May , acannibalistic slender - bodied fishappeared on the shoring along the coast of Oregon , one of several that washed up within week of each other .

It was an problematic   long snouted lancetfish ( Alepisaurus ferox ) , a seldom pick up metal money that lives at depths of around 650 to 3,300 foot ( 200 to 1,000 metre ) in thesouth - westerly and primal - western Pacific Ocean .   Some theories for strandings include sickness , stormy weather conditions and temperature shock from unusually dusty water .

Rotten globster

In September , the cadaver of awhite , mermaid - like creatureappeared on the edge of Simberi Island in Papua New Guinea that offend the locals and left scientists flurry .

The body was so gravely decomposed that scientist could n’t discover it , but it was clearly a marine mammal of some sort . When hard - to - identify animal remains wash up ,   they are calledglobsters .

Pregnant great hammerhead shark

Anenormous great hammerhead shark ( Sphyrna mokarran ) was find out dead in Aprilnear Orange beach in Alabama . After a closer flavour , researchers atMississippi State University ’s Marine Fisheries Ecology ( MFE)group found that she was conduct 40 pups .

After a necropsy , the team found that the shark ’s abdomen was whole empty , a unwashed occurrence for pregnant hammerhead sharks , who go months without eating . Her organ showed no preindication of unwellness or disease , so the researcher distrust she die due to human sportfishing .

Pilot whales in Western Australian

In a rarefied spectacle in July , around 100 pilot burner whales beached themselves on Cheynes Beach in Western Australia .

Wildlife experts and Volunteer from theParks and Wildlife Serviceworked overnight strain to return as many hulk as possible , using slings and vessels to bear them to deep water . By the end of the day , however,51 individuals had died .

The pod was spotted in the shallow waters the dark before , swim huddled tightly together . accord to theWhale and Dolphin Conservation Group ( U.K. ) , large strandings can bump because pilot giant live intight societal groups . So when leadership of the pod make navigational misplay or get grim , they lead the quietus of the seedcase to shore .

Two people stand with a pilot whale after it has stranded on a beach.

On Traigh Mhor beach, local authorities tried for hours to refloat the whales that were found stranded.

Great white shark ripped in two

In October , a 10 - foot - long ( 3 m)great white shark ( Carcharodon carcharias ) was found ripped in half , disemboweled and smothered in orca ( Orcinus orca ) desoxyribonucleic acid on a beach in Australia . Scientists confirmed that orcas were the Orcinus orca , as they are known to attackgreat white sharks .

Pregnant megamouth shark

For the first metre ever , apregnant megamouth shark(Megachasma pelagios ) washed ashore in the Philippines , complete with her throw out pup .

The find has sustain that this shark does not lie testicle , but give birth to live young . The bodies of the juvenile have been taken to the National Museum of the Philippines where they will be preserved and studied .

Bulbous-headed orca

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A great white shark lies on the operating table before a necropsy.

Great white shark found stranded on a beach in Nova Scotia.

A mysteriousgroup of bulbous - lead orcas washed ashorein Chile in June . It was only the 2nd sighting of this strange group . The last case of a Type vitamin D orca being stranded goes back 67 age ago in New Zealand

A lancetfish lying on the sand on a beach in Oregon

Long snouted lancetfish (Alepisaurus ferox) live in the deep waters of the Pacific Ocean.

A mysterious white organic mass washed ashore

When hard-to-identify animal remains wash up, they are called globsters.

The dead hammerhead shark is towed away on a truck.

Great hammerhead sharks on Orange beach in Alabama.

A pilot whales lies stranded on a beach

100 pilot whales beached themselves on Cheynes Beach in Western Australia.

Two pictures of the great white shark that stranded on beach in southwestern Australia.

Orca’s rip a great white shark in two to retrieve its nutrient-rich liver.

megamouth pups laid out on a laboratory table

The first pregnant megamouth shark spotted in stranding confirms that the species is ovoviviparous.

A Type D killer whale breaks the surface of the ocean with its fin and body above the surface

The incredibly rare Type D orca.

blue blob-shaped dead creatures on a sandy beach

An orange sea pig in gloved hands.

A rattail deep sea fish swims close the sea floor with two parasitic copepods attached to its head.

The oddity of an octopus riding a shark.

a pack of orcas

an illustration of an ichthyosaur swimming underwater with ancient fish

a reconstruction of an early reptile

a hoatzin bird leaping in the air with blue sky background

Two young lions (Panthera leo) in the Masai Mara National Park in Kenya.

Closeup of an Asian needle ant worker carrying prey in its mouth on a wooden surface.

Photo shows an egg hatching out of a �genital pore� in a snail�s neck.

side-by-side images of a baboon and a gorilla

Fragment of a stone with relief carving in the ground

An illustration of microbiota in the gut

an illustration of DNA

images showing auroras on Jupiter

An image of the Eagle Nebula, a cluster of young stars.