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For the second time this year, an oarfish has washed up on a California beach. The deep-sea fish is remarkable not only because of its exceptional rarity, but also because it’s considered a harbinger of doom in Japanese folklore.
The nearly 10-foot-long fish was discovered by Alison Laferriere, a PhD candidate at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, according to a post on the Scripps Instagram page. Researchers took samples from the oarfish and froze the rest for further study and final preservation in Scripps’ marine vertebrate collection, according to Scripps Oceanography Marine Vertebrate Collection manager, Ben Frable.
Oarfish sightings are exceptionally rare, with only 21 oarfish having been documented on California shores since 1901, as NBC News reports. This is due to the fact that they are deep-sea creatures who reside in a sunless region called the mesopelagic zone. Their rarity has also earned the oarfish a unique place in Japanese myth: as a harbinger of impending earthquakes. Despite this, the last sighting of an oarfish in the region was relatively recent, when a group of kayakers and snorkelers found the expired creature floating off the coast of San Diego in August.
As to why we have been seeing an uptick in oarfish appearances, Frable explained that, “It may have to do with changes in ocean conditions and increased numbers of oarfish off our coast. Many researchers have suggested this as to why deep-water fish strand on beaches. Sometimes it may be linked to broader shifts such as the El Niño and La Niña cycle but this is not always the case. There was a weak El Niño earlier this year. This wash-up coincided with the recent red tide and Santa Ana winds last week, but many variables could lead to these strandings.”
