http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2013/10/23/are-californias-giant-dead-oarfish-a-sign-of-an-impending-earthquake-disaster/
October 23, 2013 – CATALINA ISLAND, Ca. — Could
the appearance of rare “sea serpents” washing ashore beaches in
Southern California portend disaster? The question comes following the
discovery of the carcass of a rare 18-foot-long oarfish off the coast of
Catalina Island on Oct. 13, followed by another snakelike 14-foot-long
oarfish found on Oct. 18 in Oceanside. Fishermen in Japan reported a
sharp uptick in oarfish sightings in March 2010 following the massive
magnitude-8.8 earthquake in Chile that same month, which marked almost
exactly one year before the country was devastated by its own
magnitude-8.9 quake in northeast Japan. Oarfish, which can grow to more
than 50 feet in length, are considered the longest bony fish in the
world. They typically dive more than 3,000 feet deep, which makes
sightings rare and has fueled various serpent legends throughout
history. According to traditional Japanese lore, oarfish rise to the
water’s surface and beach themselves to warn of an impending earthquake,
a notion that some scientists have speculated could be supported by the
bottom-dwelling fish being more sensitive to seismic shifts.
Known as the “Messenger from the Sea
God’s Palace,” over a dozen “ryugu no tsukai,” or slender oarfish,
either washed ashore or were caught in fishing nets in the Ishikawa,
Toyama, Kyoto, Shimane and Nagasaki prefectures near the quake’s
epicenter months before the 2011 quake hit, according to several
reports. Scientists, however, say there is no data to support an actual
link between the two phenomena. “It’s probably just a coincidence,” said
Rick Feeney, who has been studying fish for almost 35 years for the
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. According to Feeney, four
sightings have been reported since 2010 from the Central Coast
southward, including in Malibu in 2010 and Lompoc in 2011. “We think
that they come inshore to die actually because they’re in distress for
some reason, but we don’t know what the reason is,” said Feeney, adding
that the fish could have been starving or disoriented. But the fish
remain somewhat of a mystery to researchers because there have been few
Oarfish caught over the years, he said. A record number of sea lion
sightings were reported along Southland beaches earlier this year,
including one declared “unusual mortality event” in April that saw
hundreds of ailing sea lion pups washed ashore. –CBS
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