Watch this chilling encounter of divers stumbling upon a terrifying doomsday creature
Alright, I can now officially unlock a new fear of the ocean. In June 2023, a few divers off Taiwanâs coast spotted a massive oarfish, over six feet long, with bite marks on its side. For anyone who might not be familiar with oarfish, theyâre incredibly large elongated fish which are basically the aquatic equivalent of nightmare fuel. According to Japanese folklore, this fish is a disaster detector. Yep, people believe that it shows up before earthquakes and tsunamis, almost like a doomsday fish.
In a heart-pounding moment, one adventurous diver instructor, Wang Cheng-Ru, boldly reached out to touch this alleged harbinger of doom from the deep. The expert suggested that the serpentine sea beast, with suspicious holes in its body, might have been in distress, leading it to swim into shallower waters. He stated, âIt must have been dying.â
Now, you remember how I mentioned the whole âdoomsdayâ theory. Well, these oarfish supposedly beach themselves before earthquakes. Their deep-sea habitat, residing between 656 and 3,200 feet below the oceanâs surface, only adds to the mystery of their supposed connection to potential earthquakes. In fact, in 2011, right before the Fukushima earthquake, many of these eerie fish washed ashore before the tragedy.
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So, amid the awe-inspiring sight, one canât help but wonder if the oarfishâs daring journey into shallower waters was a sign of unfortunate events to come.
However, that all being said, a number of scientists and divers arenât fully convinced thereâs any spooky connection between these fish and disasters. Expert and professor, Hiroyuki Motomura, doesnât buy into the whole doomsday fish drama either. In an interview with the New York Post, he stated that there is âno scientific evidenceâ pointing to this connection. According to Motomura, when these fish arenât feeling too hot, they ride the water currents to the surface, thatâs why theyâre often found floating lifeless. At least thatâs one fishy mystery debunked.
