Kayakers and snorkelers exploring the Southern California coast spotted an extremely rare oarfish, nicknamed a “doomsday fish” since they are seen in some parts of the world as harbingers of imminent disasters. It’s one of less than two dozen confirmed sightings of an oarfish in the state in over 120 years, according to UC  San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

The oarfish is a “strikingly large, odd-looking fish” with a long, silvery, ribbon-shaped body, according to the Ocean Conservatory. The fish can grow to more than 30 feet long, and have large eyes and “foreboding” red spines in a crown-like cluster. Typically, these fish are deep-sea dwellers and thrive in waters that are the least explored by scientists.

  • Mossy Feathers (She/They)@pawb.social
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    3 months ago

    I wonder if their tendency to appearance before an earthquake is just coincidence, or if there are signs, like changes in water temperature, changes in current, bursts of electromagnetic energy, etc, that can indicate that an earthquake is going to occur several days in advance; and oarfish are sensitive to it, resulting in them surfacing and dying from depressurization.

      • leisesprecher@feddit.org
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        3 months ago

        It’s clearly the other way around. These animals leave, causing plates to slip because of reduced weight.

        • dhtseany@lemmy.ml
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          3 months ago

          I don’t know enough about oarfish to refute this claim so I’ll assume it’s likely accurate.

      • catloaf@lemm.ee
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        3 months ago

        This one was dead, so I don’t think it was any kind of reaction.

        • Leeks@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          It could be. Maybe it surfaced because of some detection, then the depressurization killed it.

            • Balex@lemmy.world
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              3 months ago

              Evolution isn’t some sentient force striving for perfection. There is a lot of retarded stuff that we have evolution to thank for. This could just be a side effect of some other trait that normally helps the fish survive. Plus, earthquakes don’t happen often enough to affect evolution in the long run.

            • Scubus@sh.itjust.works
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              3 months ago

              Nah that’s teeth. You get two sets for your entire life and they suck. You have the ability to grow more as evidenced by your second set, but fuck you.

              • 11111one11111@lemmy.world
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                3 months ago

                Lol I’ve been banking on all the news about new teeth regrowing technology. Been banking on it for 20 years before the tech even broke ground 😂

      • CheeseNoodle@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        My understanding was that fault lines create low pressure waves that animals can detect before an earthquake occurs. I think these days we have equipment that can generally detect them before animals do.