Divers Discover Rare Giant Oarfish Off the Coast of Taiwan

Taiwan – A group of divers made a charming discovery in deep sea of the northeast coast of Taiwan. They found a rare giant oarfish. 

Through a video that circular on social media, originally published by dicing instructor Wang Cheng-Ru in June, showed the group coming upon the deep-sea fish, over six feet long, dotted with what appeared to be giant bite marks. 

Oarfish are deep-dwelling species, making their homes in the mesopelagic zone 200 to 1,000 meters below the ocean's surface, so sightings are rare.

In Japanese folklore, the oarfish is known as a "Messenger from the Sea God's Palace" and has gained a reputation as a doomsday harbinger of sorts, according to National Geographic.

Local legend claims the oarfish appears just before natural disasters like tsunamis or earthquakes. In fact, six oarfish were spotted days before a deadly 2017 earthquake in southern Philippines, NatGeo reported. 

But science says this legend doesn't hold water, experts stated. 

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"It's hard to imagine what sort of phenomenon would occur before an earthquake that would cause these oarfish to leave the (mesopelagic zone) to move towards shore and strand," Mark Benfield, an oceanographer and ecologist at Louisiana State University, said to NatGeo. 

Oarfish don't live near the ocean floor where deep-sea seismic activity takes place, and if such a theory were true, the oarfish wouldn't be the only species sighted before an earthquake.

According to the Catalina Island Marine Institute, oarfish can grow to more than 50 feet, making them the longest bony fish in the world. They are likely responsible for sea serpent legends throughout history.

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"It's hard to imagine what sort of phenomenon would occur before an earthquake that would cause these oarfish to leave the (mesopelagic zone) to move towards shore and strand," Mark Benfield, an oceanographer and ecologist at Louisiana State University, said to NatGeo.