45019
From: ryan, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Rare, giant 'doomsday fish' washes ashore along California coastline
URL: https://www.sfgate.com/la/article/rare-doomsday-oarfish-san-diego-19656772.php
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Rare, giant 'doomsday fish' washes ashore along California coastline The beast was a full 12 feet long By Farley Elliott, SoCal Bureau Chief Aug 14, 2024 An oarfish hangs in the exhibition of sea museum 'Ozeanum' at the port of Stralsund, Germany, 10 July 2013. Kayakers in the cool ocean waters off Southern California came across a rare sight over the weekend. According to San Diego news station KUSI, a large silver oarfish was spotted just off La Jolla Shores, south of Torrey Pines, on Saturday. The long fish, measuring in at 12 feet, had already died by the time it was spotted by the group, and was pulled into shore for further examination. As luck would have it, this was no ordinary collection of kayakers. The group, which also included snorkelers, were scientists from the nearby Scripps Institution of Oceanography, part of UC San Diego, and the oarfish represents a unique opportunity. Calling the fish a “mysterious species,” a spokesperson for Scripps told KUSI that the surprising find will become part of a marine life collection at the institute. It took a team of people to drag in the rare phenomenon from the water and transfer it to a truck so that researchers can further study it. The primary questions to be asked are: Why this fish, and why now? The admittedly odd-looking fish, with red fins and bulging eyes, is known as a filter feeder with a preferred deep-sea habitat. Oarfish normally patrol the ink-black depths more than 3,000 feet down and rarely come up to the surface. Because of their deep-water tendencies, the oarfish is one of the ocean's lesser-studied beasts, though accounts of oarfish sightings do date as far back as the late 1700s. Full-sized adult oarfish can reach up to 30 feet in length, making them an even more surprising sight when they are seen at the surface. Oarfish also have something of a negative reputation globally as harbingers of bad fortune or natural disasters. They are sometimes even called "doomsday fish," and National Geographic says that historically the fish has been known in Japanese culture as a “Messenger from the Sea God’s Palace.” |
45021
From: The Hierophant, [DNS_Address]
Subject: These have shown up
URL: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/california-oarfish-doomsday-fish-la-jolla-cove-earthquake/
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these have shown up in recent years prior to deep ocean earthquakes. "The fish have their alarming nickname due to a reputation as harbingers of earthquakes or other bad news, according to the Ocean Conservancy. Twenty such fish reportedly washed up on the shores of Japan right before the catastrophic 2011 earthquake. The California oarfish was indeed found just two days before a 4.4 earthquake struck the region and rattled Los Angeles. " |
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45020
From: akira, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Rare, giant 'doomsday fish' washes ashore along California...
| Holy carp! It's even rarer now. |
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[45022]
45022
From: ryan, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Rare, giant 'doomsday fish' washes ashore along California...
| This image provided by The Scripps Institution of Oceanography shows a team of researchers and science-minded snorkelers working together to recover a dead oarfish from La Jolla Cove, Calif., Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. (Michael Wang/The Scripps Institution of Oceanography via AP)Michael Wang/AP |
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