A marine science instructor snorkeling off the Southern California coast saw something out of a Christmas fantasy: the silvery carcass of an 18-foot-long snake-like oarfish.

Jasmine Santana of the Catalina Island Marine Institute needed more than 15 helpers to drag the giant sea creature with eyes the size of half-dollars to shore on Sunday.

Institute staff call it the discovery of a lifetime.

Incredible: 18-foot-long oarfish found dead in water off Catalina Island near Los Angeles, California

“We’ve never seen a fish on this fish,” said Mark Waddington, senior captain of Tole Mour, CIMI’s sail training ship. The last oarfish we saw was three feet long.

Because oarfish die deeper than 3,000 feet, sightings of the creature are rare and largely unstudied, according to CIMI.

The dark fish apparently died of natural causes. Tissue samples and video sequences were sent to the Ƅiologists studied at the University of California, Santa BarƄara.

Science instructor Santana spotted something bright about 30 feet down while diving during a staff trip in Toyon Bay on Santa Catalina Island, about two dozen miles from the mainland.

An illustration of Bank’s Oarfish, circa 1850, the giant fish that inspired tales of sea serpents. 18-foot oarfish found in California required 16 people to bring it to land

“He was snorkeling and saw this giant fish on the bottom of the ocean,” Waddington told KTLA. ‘She swims down and smacks his tail and swims towards each one. It was amazing. There were people running to go see this fish.

Waddington said Santana dragged the fish to shore because ‘she said, ‘nobody’s going to catch me.'”

After she pulled the carcass by its tail for more than 75 feet, staff came in and helped her carry it to shore.

The body was on display Tuesday for 5th, 6th and 7th grade students studying at CIMI.

The oarfish, which can grow to more than 50 feet, is a deep-water pelagic fish, the longest Ƅony fish in the world, according to CIMI. They are likely responsible for supposed sea serpent legends throughout history.

The giant oarfish was first discovered in 1772 by Norwegian Ƅiologist Peter Ascanius. Its formal scientific title is Regalecus glesne, but the fish is also known as king herring, Pacific oarfish, streamer fish, and rhyton fish.

The longest specimen on record clocked in at 26 feet, however, the species is believed to grow up to 50 feet and weigh up to 600 pounds.

Like the equally mysterious giant squid, the oarfish would delight fishermen and sailors and inspire stories of sea monsters.

The fish lives in extreme ocean depths, between 0.2 kilometers (656 ft) and 1 kilometer (3,280 ft) deep.

In 1996, a group of Naʋy seals found a 23-foot-long oarfish off Coronado, near San Diego, California.

In 1996, Naʋy Seals brought ashore this 23-foot oarfish that was found off the coast near San Diego, California.

The Catalina fish is currently on ice while the fate of the carcass is decided.

“I’m pushing to bury it and wait for it to clear naturally so we can take the skeleton, articulate it and put it on display,” Waddington said. That’s what I hope happens.