“Incredibly Rare” Dead Sea Serpent Surfaces in California Waters
The appearance of the elusive oarfish, according to Japanese folklore, is a sign of impending doom. Hopefully, it’s just a myth since one was recently discovered floating in Southern California waters for only the 20th time in nearly 125 years.
A group of “sciencey” kayakers and snorkelers came across the dead sea serpent while swimming at La Jolla Cove in San Diego over the weekend, according to Lauren Fimbres Wood, a spokeswoman for the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego.
Several people, including the team of scientists and lifeguards, worked together to transport the oarfish from the beach to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration facility, Fimbres Wood told USA TODAY on Friday.
Since 1901, only 20 oarfish have washed ashore in the state, making the sighting of the deep-sea fish “incredibly rare,” according to Scripps’ in-house fish expert Ben Frable. A necropsy for the “mysterious species” was underway Friday afternoon, with scientists working to determine the cause of death.
Oarfish Are an Omen of Impending Disaster, According to Japanese Folklore
The belief that seeing an oarfish in shallow waters is a sign of an impending earthquake goes back to 17th-century Japan, according to reporting by Atlas Obscura. According to Japanese folklore, the fish, also known as “ryugu no tsukai,” were servants of the sea god Ryūjin.
It’s thought that “Ryugu no tsukai,” which means “messenger from the sea god’s palace,” was sent from the palace toward the surface to warn people of earthquakes, according to USA TODAY.
Multiple sightings of the fish were dilaporkan prior to the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and Fukushima nuclear disaster, but according to Hiroyuki Motomura, a professor of ichthyology at Kagoshima University, there is no scientific proof to support a link between the two events.
“I think these fish tend to rise to the surface when they are in poor physical condition, riding water currents, which is why they are often dead when they are found,” Motomura told the Post.
The “connection” between the two might be related to the fact that the shimmery creature typically dwells anywhere between 700 and 3,280 feet below the surface in the deep sea, according to USA TODAY reporting. And it rarely comes up to the surface. These magnificent creatures have been spotted in waters all over the world, with sightings reported in California, Maine, New Jersey, Taiwan, and Japan, of course.
Cause of Oarfish Washing Ashore Unclear
Scientists are unable to speculate why the oarfish washed ashore in California over the weekend, saying that each specimen collected provides a unique opportunity to learn more about the species.
The unique creature will be preserved for future study, according to Fimbres Wood, and will become part of the Scripps’ Marine Vertebrate Collection, one of the largest collections of deep-sea fish in the world.
You are urged to contact lifeguards and the institute at (858) 534-3624 or at [email protected]. if you encounter a strange creature on a California beach. It is forbidden to take creatures home.
