Is it a snake or a fish? Oregon couple find rare creature during walk on beach

A couple in Oregon were met with a wiggling, slimy discovery during their walk on the beach.

Jerry and Sue Olson were walking on a beach south of Sunset Beach, Oregon, on Sunday morning when they found a rare, wiggling snake fish in the wet sand, the Seaside Aquarium said.

“Jerry called the Seaside Aquarium, which is currently closed but still has staff on hand to care for the animals, and told them what he found,” the aquarium said. “As soon as he said, ‘sea snake’ we knew that it was most likely a Pacific snake eel.”

Pacific snake eels are usually found in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, near California and Mexico. They rarely have been seen as far north as Oregon.

This sighting was only the third time one of the snake eels was seen in the state.

“Last year on March 14th a Pacific Snake Eel was found on the Long Beach peninsula. It was the first time that a Pacific Snake Eel had been found on the beach that far north,” the aquarium said. “This will mark the third time a Pacific Snake Eel has been found on the beach in Oregon. The two previous findings were in Bandon and Lincoln City.”

The creature has been known to be up to 4 feet long, according to a fish database.

They like to live in “sandy and muddy bottoms” and are considered harmless to humans, the database reported.

The Seaside Aquarium is isolating the Pacific snake eel in a tank because it was too sluggish to return to the water, the aquarium said.

“The Pacific Snake Eel was too lethargic to simply place back into the ocean, so it was taken to the Seaside Aquarium,” they said. “We have it in an isolated tank and over the next few days we will begin to warm the water to try to make him more comfortable.”

This story was originally published March 30, 2020 at 7:04 PM with the headline "Is it a snake or a fish? Oregon couple find rare creature during walk on beach."