Ted and Linda Judah were nearing the end of a diving road trip in California when they decided to do one more dive off McAbee Beach in Monterey. They were just starting out and were only about 15 feet deep when they saw someone swimming nearby.
As they approached the fish, they quickly realized they were witnessing someone incredibly rare.
Ted Judah
“My first reaction was to tell my wife that there was something very special below us,” Ted Judah told The Dodo. “I knew it was a deep-sea ribbonfish of some kind. I thought, perhaps a young oarfish. I knew about oarfish from those old Time Life young reader books I had growing up.”
Ted Judah
In fact, the little guy was actually a young king-of-the-salmon, a type of ribbonfish (named for their ribbon-like bodies) who typically lives 3,000 feet below the surface. The adults can grow to be up to six-feet long, making them impressive-looking fish. Judah had no idea why the fish was exploring such shallow waters, and had a feeling that an encounter this special might not happen again.
“My thought was, ‘I have to really document this well,’” Judah said. “I tried really hard to keep the camera still and get the best closeups I could.”
Ted Judah
Once he had snapped a few photos, Judah backed away, and the fish swam off, leaving him and his wife with only the memories of the unlikely sighting. Once they had finished their dive, Judah posted about the encounter online, and thousands of people were just as in awe of the king-of-the-salmon as the couple had been.
Ted Judah
Judah never thought he’d have the chance to see a king-of-the-salmon up close, and the fish remains one of the best sightings he’s had on a dive.
“I’ve seen critically endangered sunflower sea stars, sharks and a humpback whale, but this was one of the coolest things I’ve seen,” Judah said.
Woman Recording Her Swim Accidentally Captures Video Of Extremely Rare AnimalShe was shocked.