‘Doomsday fish’ returns to Southern California shores for the third time this year

The elusive deep-water oarfish – considered to be a harbinger of bad news – was spotted yet again on the shores of Encinitas, California. It was the state’s third spotting of the species in the last three months, and only the 22nd over the past century.

The 9-foot oarfish was found on the shores of Grandview Beach on Nov. 6 by Alison Laferriere of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California at San Diego, according to a Facebook Post from Scripps. The deceased specimen was then recovered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service and transported to the Southwest Fisheries Science Center, according to the post.

“We took samples and froze the specimen awaiting further study and final preservation in the Marine Vertebrate Collection,” Ben Frable, manager of the Scripps Oceanography Marine Vertebrate Collection, said in the post.

Japanese mythology attributes shallow-water appearances of the deep-sea oarfish as precursors to earthquakes and tsunamis, according to Atlas Obscura.

In 2010, at least a dozen were reported on Japan’s coastline just before Japan experienced its largest recorded earthquake in March 2011, according to Ocean Conservancy.

Theories have emerged that the tectonic movement preceding earthquakes kill the species, causing them to wash up on beaches just before an earthquake hits, according to Natural World Facts. However, a 2019 study found no correlation between oarfish sightings and the occurrence of earthquakes in Japan, according to GeoScience.

The so-called “doomsday” species is rarely seen by humans and is yet to be completely understood by scientists, according to Ocean Conservancy, as it thrives in the sea’s least explored ecosystem: the mesopelagic zone, which is found as much as 3,000 feet below the ocean’s surface.

“Like with the previous oarfish, this specimen and the samples taken from it will be able to tell us much about the biology, anatomy, genomics and life history of oarfish,” Frable said in the post.

The first oarfish washed up in La Jolla Cove in August, according to a Scripps news release. The 12-foot-long specimen was spotted by kayakers and snorkelers near the San Diego beach, which is situated by two underwater canyons that funnel deep water to the shore.

The fish was found in good condition according to the release, and it was taken in for examination and preservation to become a part of the organization’s Marine Vertebrate Collection. The collection is one of the largest of deep-sea fish in the world, according to Scripps.

Oarfish are often described as “sea serpents,” Scripps notes, and the species’ long “ribbon-like silvery body” can grow up to 30 feet. The fish are rarely observed alive, as they tend to only leave their natural habitats when in distress, according to Ocean Conservancy.

Another oarfish was discovered in Huntington Beach in September, but was “quite degraded,” Frable told CNN. The reason these oarfish appeared and died remains unknown and could be the result of many variables, he says.

“It may have to do with changes in ocean conditions and increased numbers of oarfish off our coast,” Frable said. “This wash-up coincided with the recent red tide and Santa Ana winds last week, but many variables could lead to these strandings.”

Sightings of this species on beaches over the years have given scientists the chance to learn more about the mysterious creature and its survival tactics, according to the news release.

“This oarfish presents a rare opportunity to obtain fresh samples for genomic analysis, allowing us to study the evolutionary adaptations that enable this species to thrive in deep-sea environments,” said Dahiana Arcila, marine biologist and curator of the Marine Vertebrate Collection at Scripps in the release.

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