A Look Back:

A giant, serpent-like creature called an oarfish washed up on the sand in Newport Beach in 1901, becoming the basis for numerous local sea monster stories.

Another alleged sea serpent was spotted off Newport Pier in 1923.

Various historical accounts of the 1901 Newport sea creature estimate it was anywhere from 17 to 30 feet in length.

“Hundreds of people from this city wended their way to Newport Beach today to get a glimpse of the deep-sea monster which has washed ashore there,” the Los Angeles Times reported on Feb. 24, 1901. “Old fishermen at the beach have come to the conclusion that the monster is an oarfish, a deep water species that is seldom seen.”

Oarfish, which can grow up to 30 feet long, are large fish that inhabit ocean waters throughout the tropics and subtropics, according to Encyclopedia Britannica. Because they rarely leave their deep-water homes, humans have occasionally mistaken oarfish for sea serpents when they do surface.

A Mexican fisherman spotted the giant Newport oarfish still alive in the surf at a local beach and pulled it ashore in 1901, according to the 1907 book “Fishes” by David Starr Jordan.

“Being ignorant of its value, he cut it up, bringing in a part of the scarlet fins and a slice of the flesh,” Jordan wrote. “This he showed to some men, and led the way to where lay the mutilated remains of one of the finest oar- or ribbon-fishes ever seen.”

The giant sea beast was about 21 feet long and weighed an estimated 500 pounds, Jordan wrote. Unfortunately, the fisherman had butchered the fish so badly, its value as a scientific specimen was ruined, Jordan wrote.

“Apparently the man had cut it up in wanton amusement,” he wrote.

A man named H.J. Bell spotted a giant sea serpent about a mile off Newport Pier in 1923.

“That a sea serpent has been browsing off-shore and spreading terror among the denizens of the sea is the story brought to town by a number of citizens,” the Los Angeles Times reported July 26, 1923.

Bell spied the animal through a pair of binoculars from Newport Pier after he saw a commotion in the water, The Times reported.

“The animal had great jaws with teeth of prodigious size that glistened in the sun. Long hair hung in tangled swatches from its head and partially covered its eyes,” Bell told The Times.

The monster was reportedly several hundred feet long and was covered in large spines, The Times reported.

“Suddenly the great head disappeared under the waves,” Bell told The Times. “In a moment it reappeared with a great jewfish in its mouth. This was tossed in the air and caught and swallowed as the fish descended. It was certainly a horrifying sight.”

No other historical accounts of the creature could immediately be found.