by The legendary “Doom Fish” has returned to California.
A long, ribbon-shaped oarfish rarely seen and believed to be a sign of disaster has washed up on the California coast for the second time this year.
Graduate student Alison Laferriere of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego discovered the nearly 10-foot-long oarfish on a beach in Encinitas, southern California, last week.
Oarfish are elusive creatures that live in the deep sea – often up to 3,300 feet below the surface – in the mesopelagic zone, a dark region beyond the reach of sunlight.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, these mysterious fish, which can grow up to 20 feet long, remain largely unexplored by scientists.
Rare, monstrous and strangely shaped oarfish have been the source of myth and legend for centuries and are sometimes referred to as “doomsday fish” due to their reputation for predicting natural disasters or earthquakes.
In 2011, the largely forgotten legend of the “earthquake fish” resurfaced after 20 oarfish washed ashore in the months leading up to Japan’s strongest recorded earthquake.
The devastating tsunami that struck Japan on March 11, 2011, killed more than 15,000 people and was triggered by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake that massively pushed the ocean floor toward Honshu, Japan’s largest island.
According to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, oarfish are incredibly rare.
According to the institution, only 21 oarfish have been documented washing up on California shores since 1901.
Ben Frable, a researcher at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, suspected that changes in ocean conditions, along with a possible increase in oarfish populations, could be the reason for the increase in sightings, he said in a statement in August this year.
This year’s oarfish, which measured 12 feet long, was spotted this summer by kayakers and snorkelers in La Jolla Cove, north of downtown San Diego. The fish was later transported to NOAA’s Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla for further examination.
“Rare encounters like this provide an incredible opportunity to learn more about this species and its behavior,” said Frable.
Frable also noted in a statement that while scientists are not yet clear on the exact causes, the La Jolla coast, which is near two underwater canyons that funnel deep water to the shore, is a hotspot for disoriented or injured deep-sea fish that could be washed there.
As scientists continue to explore these rare phenomena, the mysterious oarfish sparks curiosity and intrigue.
A 2019 study by researchers in Japan found no solid scientific evidence linking oarfish to earthquakes, leaving it anyone’s guess as to what doom they may or may not portend.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
