An oarfish, which is considered a harbinger of impending doom in mythology, recently washed ashore in the Canary Islands. The fish is several feet long, and is a shimmering light blue with orange spines.
According to Japanese legend, oarfish will deliberately wash ashore to warn of impending disaster — most commonly an earthquake or tsunami.
They have been spotted before natural disasters, including the 2011 Fukushima earthquake.
In August 2024, an oarfish was found in La Jolla Bay. Two days later, a 4.6-magnitude earthquake shook Los Angeles.
In fact, three oarfish washed ashore last year. This is particularly unusual, as only 21 sea snakes have been spotted on land since 1901.
MANY ONLINE COMMENTERS SEE THE ‘DOOMSDAY FISH’ AS A WARNING OF IMMINENT DISASTER
However, most experts believe the connection is just a coincidence.
“The connection to reports of seismic activity has been around for many years, but there is no scientific evidence of it, so I don’t think people need to worry,” Hiroyuki Motomura, a professor of ichthyology at Kagoshima University, told the Morning Post in 2019.
“I believe that these fish tend to float to the surface when they are in poor condition, floating with the current, which is why they are often found dead,” he explained.
However, Uozu Aquarium curator Kazusa Saiba said the link between the two species could represent larger environmental issues.
There is no scientific evidence to support the theory that oarfish appear around major earthquakes. But we can’t 100 percent rule out the possibility,” Saiba told CNN. “It could be that global warming is affecting the oarfish’s appearance or there’s some reason we don’t know about.” Whether or not the “doomsday” creature predicted some ominous event to come, its presence on land is bad news for the fish itself. The species typically lives at depths of 3,200 feet, and its presence in shallow water usually means it’s sick or dying.
