An ancient mystery has seemed to relive itself in the present. The oarfish is a deep-sea fish that can grow to be 15 meters long and are rarely seen. Almost nothing is known about these majestic creatures. No one has the knowledge of where they spawn or grow but it is known that they live at about 1000 meters deep in the ocean. It is said that ancient Japanese people have a belief that these fish warned of disasters such as earthquakes and are only seen before one occurs. So far them showing up has proved that earthquakes were to come, and since they came five known devastating earthquakes have occurred.
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Is this just a coincidence that they appeared before the earthquakes or do they really sense it?
Why are there not more efforts made to study these fish?
1 Response to “Oarfish Future tellers.”
Wow, what a strange creature. I had never heard of them before. This article from BBC gave a little bit of information about them and also included some rare footage of a live, swimming oarfish. They can grow up to 17 meters (approximately 55 feet!). The strange appearance of their sliver bodies and red dorsal fins are thought to be the basis of “sea serpent” sightings over the years. They live at very deep areas of the ocean and are only found floating at the surface when they are dying or when they wash up on the shore. Having found no research confirming oarfish as being earthquake indicators, I think that it is probably just a coincidence that the oarfish are washing ashore at the same time earthquakes have been occuring.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8501000/8501251.stm