Fishermen has reported catching "fire stalks" as far south as Santa Barbara and as far north as Oregon, though these are generally in deep water, reflecting the vampire's pelagic ancestors.

Near-shore sightings have occured between Big Sur and San Francisco but mostly in the Monterey Bay area, with numerous encounters in Santa Cruz and Monterey proper. This location is probably the most common due to the proximity to the Monterey Canyon, where depths of nearly 12,000 feet extend near shore.

Scientists are currently thinking that the vampire metridium once lived in the shallow waters of Northern California with its brethren, the white and brown metridium. Squid were probably the natural predator of the vampire and drove the species to much deeper water, but with the decimation of the squid population by commercial fishermen, the metridium started its migration back into shallower water where it is now encountering humans.