A RARELY seen species of deep sea fish keeps washing up on California’s coast line – and if folklore rings true, it could be a bad omen.
The oarfish, dubbed the Doomsday fish, can grow up to 30ft in length and typically lurk at depths of between 300 and 3,000ft.
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They are rarely seen on the surface.
Yet, three have been washed ashore in Southern California since August.
Until August, scientists had only recorded 19 beached oarfish on the California coast since 1901, according to researchers at the Scripps Oceanography Marine Vertebrate Collection at UC San Diego.
The most recent specimen, which measured 9 to 10ft, to have washed ashore was found on November 6 on Encinitas beach.
The previous fish were discovered on Huntington Beach in September, and in La Jolla in August.
Researchers are baffled as to what has caused the sudden uptick in sightings.
Increased numbers of oarfish off the California coast may be to blame, Ben Frable, manager of Scripps, said.
Although it may also have something to do with natural weather cycles, such as El Niño and La Niña.
“Many researchers have suggested this as to why deep-water fish strand on beaches,” he said in a statement.
“Sometimes it may be linked to broader shifts such as the El Niño and La Niña cycle but this is not always the case.”
Bad omen
In Japan, the oarfish is steeped in folklore.
Known locally as “Ryugu no Tsuki” or “messenger from the sea god’s palace”, it has long been believed that the oarfish surfaces from its deep-sea habitat to warn of earthquakes.
Before Japan’s 2011 earthquake, according to local news reports at the time, a total of 20 oarfish washed ashore.
The 2011 earthquake, which claimed the lives of 18,500 people, is one of the most catastrophic in history.
“In Japan, folklore says that uncommon appearances of deep‐sea fish are an earthquake precursor,” researchers from Tokai University and the University of Shizuoka, wrote in a 2019 study looking into the possible connection.
“If this folklore is proved to be true, the appearance of deep‐sea fish could be useful information for disaster mitigation.”
However, there has been no scientific evidence to support the claim.
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