A massive “doomsday fish” has mysteriously appeared on a Southern California beach, marking the third sighting this year. The rare and terrifying oarfish, measuring an impressive 9 to 10 feet, was discovered at Grandview Beach in Encinitas.
Snorkelers originally found a rarely seen deep sea fish associated with doomsday omens back in August after it was seen floating along the ocean surface.
The Scripps Institution of Oceanography said in a statement that an oarfish, measuring around 12 feet long, was found by snorkelers and kayakers in La Jolla Cove, close to San Diego in California. The fish, sometimes dubbed a ” doomsday serpent fish”, has since been brought ashore for study, the institute said.
Scripps said oarfish are so rare they have a mythical reputation, with some superstitions believing they are harbingers of natural disasters including earthquakes. Sightings are so rare that it’s only the 22th time an oarfish is known to have washed up in California since 1901, according to institution fish expert Ben Frable.
A Guardian report in 2023 said that around 20 oarfish washed up on the beaches of Japan before the devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami. But despite the association with doom and gloom, Scripps said there is no correlation with the appearance of oarfish and natural disasters occuring.
The marine animal can grow longer than 20 feet and usually live in a deep part of the ocean called the mesopelagic zone, where light cannot reach, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Swimmers brought the La Jolla Cove oarfish to shore atop a paddleboard. It was then transferred to the bed of a pickup truck. Scientists from NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center and Scripps planned a necropsy on Friday to try to determine the cause of death.
It is not clear why the fish is so-named, but some believe it could be because their flat bodies are a bit like the oars of a boat. Others have suggested that it is because of the unusual way they swim through the water.
Of the fish, the website Ocean Conservancy said: These animals arent just unique because of their size, however. Oarfish are filter feeders and primarily eat krill, plankton and other small crustaceans. Other than their long, ribbony appearance, the species also boasts large eyes and foreboding red spines that stick out to form a crown-like cluster.
They are deep-sea dwellers, thriving most often in the zone least explored by scientists to date: the mesopelagic zone (waters down to 1,000 metres). Floating vertically through these dark waters, their silvery, reflective bodies help oarfish blend into their surroundings if they do happen upon patches of light.
