© Courtesy Harbor WildWatchOarfish
During one of many beach walks in recent months,
Harbor WildWatch of Gig Harbor was treated to the discovery of a rare species of fish known as King-of-the-Salmon, found by a paddleboarder at Salt Creek Recreation Area near Port Angeles.
The small team, who work during low tides, left very early on the morning of June 7 to explore somewhere new. For several months, the beach walks have been streamed and made virtual as a part of Harbor Wildwatch's online offerings in light of COVID-19. Met with a perfect weather day, the group spent more than five hours exploring the area in and around Tongue Point, checking out marine animals and taping vignettes for their
Facebook and
Insta pages.
As the day was winding down, exhausted and ready for the drive back to headquarters, paddleboarder Scott Herning called out to the group, "Are you biologists?" after coming upon a very large dead creature with a huge eye. Rachel Easton, biologist and education director at Harbor WildWatch, described the experience as a biologist's dream come true: "No matter how tired we were, that's definitely something we want to see!"
The fish found on June 7 measured 53 inches in length, but the species is known to grow to 6 ½ feet long and stays
primarily in deep ocean areas. Only five have been recorded as washing up on the shore between British Columbia and Washington.
Comment: Also pertinent: Creatures from the deep signal major Earth Changes: Is anyone paying attention?