Markus Castro
Manila, Philippines — A dead Oarfish was washed ashore in one of the coastal areas of New Washington Aklan.
It was immediately posted on GMA News Facebook Page earlier this morning, Monday (July 8, 2019) by Youscooper Rizza Magbiro-Alcedo. According to Rizza, the Oarfish was already weak when the locals found it and it eventually died.
This was their first time to see an Oarfish in their area, Rizza added.
Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) representatives also visited the area to conduct an investigation regarding the incident.
Wikipedia describes Oarfish as a large, greatly elongated, pelagic lampriform fish belonging to the small family Regalecidae. Found in all temperate to tropical oceans yet rarely seen, the oarfish family contains three species in two genera.
The oarfish is a mysterious deep-sea creature. They are considered as the longest bony fish in the world and they live at depths from 650 – 3,000 feet below sea level.
Seeing this deep-sea creature washed up on the beach is a rare occurrence since the fish is a deepwater species.
According to local folklore, the presence of an oarfish is a manifestation of an earthquake / natural calamities that is yet to come.
Based on an article published on Sunstar, there were multiple sightings of giant oarfish in Mindanao days before the 6.7 magnitude earthquake happened in Surigao City and its nearby provinces.
According to the article posted on LiveScience, there were about 20 oarfish stranded on the beaches of Tohoku, Japan shortly before the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami struck Japan.
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