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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 .
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 .
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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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
Long snouted lancetfish (Alepisaurus ferox) live in the deep waters of the Pacific Ocean.
When hard-to-identify animal remains wash up, they are called globsters.
Great hammerhead sharks on Orange beach in Alabama.
100 pilot whales beached themselves on Cheynes Beach in Western Australia.
Orca’s rip a great white shark in two to retrieve its nutrient-rich liver.
The first pregnant megamouth shark spotted in stranding confirms that the species is ovoviviparous.
The incredibly rare Type D orca.