Record-warm water temperatures in Southern California attract unusual creatures

The world record for great hammerhead shark caught on rod-and-reel is held by a 1,280-pound fish caught in Florida in 2006. Florida now prohibits anglers from retaining great hammerheads and 25 other shark species. less The world record for great hammerhead shark caught on rod-and-reel is held by a 1,280-pound fish caught in Florida in 2006. Florida now prohibits anglers from retaining great hammerheads and 25 other shark ... more Photo: Discovery Channel Photo: Discovery Channel Image 1 of / 9 Caption Close Record-warm water temperatures in Southern California attract unusual creatures 1 / 9 Back to Gallery

With the waters off the coast of Southern California reaching record-high temperatures in recent weeks, some unusual creatures are popping up in the Pacific.

A hammerhead shark sighting led to the closure of a beach in Oceanside, Calif., Tuesday, and Clarissa Anderson, executive director of the Southern California Coastal Ocean Observing System, calls the incident "very unusual."

"Those are definitely warm water sharks!" Anderson said.

She added that coastal waters are also seeing an uptick in stingrays and this occurs when the waters are warm. For beachgoers, this is causing some problems and stingray stings are on track to be the highest ever at San Diego beaches, according to NBC 7.

"We're averaging about 80 stings a week," John Anderson, lead lifeguard at Silver Strand State Beach, told NBC 7. "That's on track to be a record."

ALSO: 81-degree reading likely sets record for highest temperature ever measured in California waters

There's also some good news: Many sport fish are moving in with the warm water.

"We are definitely hearing from happy sport fishers about the yellowfin tuna, bluefin tuna and dorado influx," Anderson said.

From San Diego up through Point Conception, the coastal waters have felt like a bathtub in recent weeks.

The warm waters are tied to a high-pressure weather system that's hunkered over Southern California, squashing the marine layer and creating hot, still conditions. Temperatures on the coast have been above 80 degrees most days in August and above 90 only a few miles inland and there's hardly been an ocean breeze.

"The waters are getting a lot more sunshine than they usually do in July and August," says Miguel Miller, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in San Diego. "This hot summer sun has been able to cook the top foot or two of ocean water and there hasn't been strong onshore flow that lead to more upwelling and mixes up the deeper cold stuff at the bottom of the ocean with the warmer water on top."

Last Thursday, two buoys off the coast of San Diego recorded a sea-surface temperature of 81.3 degrees, what researchers believe could be the highest temperature ever measured in California waters.