Poet T.S. Eliot once wrote, “This is the way the world ends/Not with a bang but a whimper.” I wonder if he knew that the whimper might actually come in the form of a fish. At least, that is what people believe about the rare ‘Doomsday’ fish. And it just so happens that some kayakers and snorkelers recently found one floating in the ocean. It was dead.

To help people understand just how rare this 12-foot oarfish is, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography noted that only twenty of the species, counting this particular fish, have been found in California since 1901.

The fish, the Oceanography wrote in a statement, is a “strikingly large, odd-looking fish (known for) its distinctively long, ribbon-shaped body that enables the species to float inconspicuously throughout the water column. They also have large eyes and “red spines that stick out to form a crown-like cluster.”

The 12-foot oarfish in California. Photo by Michael Wang

These fish, they said, can grow to more than 30 feet long. But its nickname is what has people wondering about the future. The Doomsday fish are “seen as being harbingers of bad news, particularly disasters or destruction,” the Oceanography said. “The legend is that if you see an oarfish, it is a warning sign from higher powers that disasters such as earthquakes are soon to occur.”

One example, the Oceanography said, was right before Japan’s 2011 earthquake. The quake, which is considered one of the most catastrophic in history, 20 oarfish were discovered ashore in Japan, news reports at the time said. And two days after this most recent oarfish was found, California had a 4.4 earthquake in Los Angelas.

The fish, according to the Oceanography, live roughly 1,000 meters down in the waters where light can’t reach. So, when one is found, they said, it can mean that there is something wrong with the fish – it could be dying, sick or lost.

The oarfish is loaded onto a truck. Photo by Emily Miller/California Sea Grant

The group of kayakers and snorkelers found the fish off of La Jolla Cove in the southern part of the state. “With help from NOAA Fisheries Service and California Sea Grant team members, the group was able to coordinate with lifeguards to transport the fish to the NOAA facility. Scientists from NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center and Scripps Oceanography will perform a necropsy to see if they can determine a cause of death,” the Oceanography said.

The fish will then be placed in the Scripps Marine Vertebrate Collection, where scientists can continue to study it. And just to clear up any worry – researchers have said they have found no link between major earthquakes and the fish appearing.

Sources: Sacramento Bee | People