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Something fishy's going on in California.

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For the second time this week, a rare sea creature has been found.

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So, what's bringing them close to shore?

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CNN's Casey Wian investigates.

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It started when a snorkeler came across this 18-foot creature that's likely an example of what ancient mariners called sea serpents.

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They seem kind of sea monster-ish, and so it catches a lot of attention.

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And it's exciting for the scientists, too.

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Normally found only in the deep ocean, this oarfish was in just 15 feet of water off Catalina Island.

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Two days later, this bizarre looking mammal washed ashore across the channel on Venice Beach.

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It's believed to be a rare saber-toothed Stejneger's beaked whale.

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It's usually found in much colder waters and almost unheard of in southern California.

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They're never seen around here,

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and to have something this unique wash up, which is a once-in-a-lifetime-so-far experience for me, was a real treat.

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Manhattan Beach surfers are used to seeing great white sharks, but not this many.

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Well, I've been seeing an abnormally high quantity of great white sharks out here lately.

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So I figured I'd take a stand-up paddleboard out,

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put my GoPro camera on my head and see if I can get some footage.

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Did he ever.

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Holy (EXPLETIVE DELETED). He's checking me out.

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Whoo! Oh, my God, right under the board.

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Oh, my God, look at that. I'm (EXPLETIVE DELETED) shaking like a leaf.

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So what's going on here?

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I'd say something along the lines of a global climate change.

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The temperature of ocean currents are definitely changing up a bit.

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I don't know. It sounds scary, though, especially with the great whites.

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I have four little kids out here and I tell them not to go in the water.

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Scarier for southern Californians than any shark sighting is a theory about the oarfish.

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Japanese legend holds that oarfish actually beach themselves to warn of an impending earthquake.

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And, in fact, dozens of them did just that in Japan about a year before the devastating Fukushima quake and tsunami in 2011.

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Usually there is some truth behind every legend.

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In that particular instance, I don't know, it seems a little far-fetched.

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Scientists don't know why all of this is happening.

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For now, the Catalina oarfish has been dissected, cut in pieces and frozen

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so its flesh can be boiled off later and its skeleton reconstructed and mounted.

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Wonder if that will keep the earthquakes away.