El Ni\u00f1o conditions off the coast are bringing a host of unusual sea creatures to Southern California.<\/p>\n
They’re usually seen down by Baja California or even farther south but they’ve been coming north.<\/p>\n
Hammerheads, a whale shark and an array of exotic rays, including one of the most endangered in the ocean, were all spotted recently as they move into the warming waters off Southern California.<\/p>\n
“One last dive as I was coming up… these rays, gigantic, about seven feet wide, just materialized to my right. And I literally jumped back.”<\/p>\n
The large school of sicklefin devil rays surprised Juan-Carlos Aguilar as he was spearfishing off Catalina Island in the midst of our heat wave.<\/p>\n
“They were just moving very graciously as they do and looking like stealth bombers of the sea, if you will,” Aguilar said.<\/p>\n
The rays, which prefer tropical temperatures, are rarely seen this far north. The longtime fisherman says he only knows of two or three sightings in Southern California in the last 15-20 years.<\/p>\n
The majestic creatures were also spotted off Newport Beach – as well as a rare solitary bentfin devil ray and endangered spinetail devil rays.<\/p>\n
“I was in one area and I saw some and then I was leaving the area and I saw another kind. So I videotaped those also. I’m like wow, this is different… Then I was leaving again to continue on my scouting and I saw another one that was pure black,” said Carl Sbarounis, a commercial fisherman and aerial spotter.<\/p>\n
The shocking trifecta was not the only surprising find Sbarounis captured on camera. He also saw a juvenile whale shark cruising between Santa Barbara Island and Malibu.<\/p>\n
“That’s as far up as I’ve ever seen one. The last two I saw, one was at Catalina and one was down towards San Clemente Island,” Sbarounis said.<\/p>\n
The sea surface temperature is pushing 80 degrees off Southern California due to increasing El Ni\u00f1o conditions, drawing a host of uncommon creatures to the coast.<\/p>\n
“It’s still early and the water can still continue to warm up because October has been a very warm month before, too. So I really don’t know exactly what else we’re going to see.”<\/p>\n
For those lucky enough to see some of these unusual visitors in person, it’s a magical moment.<\/p>\n
“I’ve been doing this for 25 years, and that 10 seconds was something that’ll live in my mind forever,” Aguilar said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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