[Animals] What is oarfish and why is it believed to herald earthquakes and other catastrophes

[UltimaTexCS]

A specimen of oarfish was recently found in Mexico. The discovery took place in Pichilingual Bay, in the city of La Paz, and generated a climate of tension among Mexicans due to the fact that this marine animal, also called a saber fish, is known in Japanese culture for being a bad omen, which it can herald environmental disasters, such as earthquakes and tsunamis.

The oarfish was more than four meters long and was found on July 16 by David de Zabedrosky, editor of the World Climate Network, in a natural pool formed on a beach in Baja California Sur. He was dead and in a state of decomposition, according to Zabedrosky.

An earthquake of magnitude 7.8 struck Tuesday night on the Alaska Peninsula, and a tsunami watch was issued that sent residents fleeing to high ground before the watch was canceled without registering dangerous waves.

The case recalled last June 11 when an oarfish was found in Cozumel and 10 days later an earthquake of 7.5 degrees on the Richter scale occurred and a tsunami alert was launched for Mexico and the countries of the region.

What is oarfish

The fish of bad omens is known in Japanese as Ryugu no tsukai, which translates as "Messenger of the Palace of the Sea God". In Japanese lands, if a large number of saber fish go to the beaches, it is a sign of an earthquake or tsunami. The Japanese believe, according to the Namazi legend, that whoever finds it is cursed.

Science knows it as the giant oarfish (Regalecus glesne), also called the king of herring, a species that lives in deep waters, below a thousand meters of depth, so it is not at all common to find it.

It is considered one of the longest bony fish, reaching 11 meters in length. However, unconfirmed specimens up to 17 meters have been reported. Its main feature is that it is tape-shaped and has small fins. In turn, it can weigh up to 200 kilos.

In addition to being thin and flat, oarfish have small mouths, with tiny, serrated jaws. They have no scales and their skin is slimy and silvery. They eat small fish and squid. They rise to the surface when they are sick or dying. They can also do it to spawn.

Why would it announce earthquakes and other catastrophes

Among the different hypotheses that specialists maintain to explain this phenomenon, is that of the Japanese seismologist Kiyoshi Wadatsumi: “Deep-sea fish -such as the oarfish- live near the bottom of the sea and are very sensitive to the movements of active faults than those that are near the surface of the sea ”.

Because of this it is possible that these fish emerge when they detect strange movements at the bottom of the sea. From there the idea could arise that the appearance of an oarfish on the surface of the sea, augurs earthquakes or tsunamis.

Rachel Grant, Professor of Animal Biology at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, also agrees with this hypothesis: “It is theoretically possible because when an earthquake occurs there can be a build-up of pressure in the rocks that can lead to electrostatic charges, generating ions with electric charge, which will then be transmitted in the water ”.

“This can lead to the formation of hydrogen peroxide, which is a toxic compound. Charged ions can also oxidize organic matter that could either kill fish or force them to leave the depths of the ocean and rise to the surface. Geophysical processes behind these types of sightings can occur before an earthquake, ”she concluded.