Today's a Saturday, James woke up very early and started watching a Vlog from a YouTuber showcasing the best places to see in the Philippines. You might have seen that one, I did and if not, let me post the link and so you can also watch it.
The Philippines is a travelers paradise! By Christian Leblanc of Lost Leblanc
I got awakened by the sound of the video and got easily hungry so we went out to the highway, ate some local delicacy and got back home, oh I got my bananas too since James is going home to Oslob and I am left alone at home, I need my own food. When James left, I opened bitLanders and found my blog reviewed, this was created just yesterday and it got reviewed immediately. After this, I had to chill since I am alone but I found one interesting topic that I needed to blog about, this means cutting off the Surigao tour blog for now. I will finish that after this one.
In the Philippines, there are lots of superstitious beliefs. Each and every thing is considered connected to something but what if superstition is related to science? What if the. Superstition was made because it was how the nature behaves in certain cases? I believe that these superstitions were created because of the fact that the ancient ones were able to observe this happened after this and that. It may also be a case of coincidences perhaps.
Why am I talking about superstition by the way? Well, I found one Facebook post shared by a friend about an Oarfish which was recently washed up to the shore of Danao City in Cebu. At first glance, I got really impressed by its size. It's a kind of fish with a long bony structure which was more or less 10 feet. I have never seen one in my entire life. Seeing these rare creatures just like the whale sharks, make me glad that in my lifetime, I was able to personally got a glimpse of it. The feeling could have been the same seeing the Oarfish but it would be a lot more better if it was alive. Unfortunately, this was dead already when seen on shore.
It would have been a huge catch in the mind of a fisherman but what is behind this fish is something everyone including the fisherman who found it would wish it wouldn't have gone to the shore.
Currently, the post is still making its rounds over the Cebu netizens although today and tomorrow over the weekends, there's no data mobile available in the city but the rest of the Visayas region will still have access to internet so this will surely become viral.
What is an Oarfish?
Oarfish, "Ryugu no tsukai" in Japanese and if translated to English it means "messenger from the sea god's palace". It has a lot of names though, it is sometimes called King of Herrings. In Palau, they are called Rooster Fish because of their reddish fins. Some other people from other places call it ribbon fish.
Here's a more dense explanation of what this fish is from Wikipedia:
"Oarfish are 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 four species in two genera. One of these, the giant oarfish (Regalecus glesne), is the longest bony fish alive, growing to up to 11 m (36 ft) in length. "
Although they indeed look long and huge, there are still arguments if this can be considered the longest fish as there sharks and other specifies which are longer than it but are way way bigger. Perhaps this can be considered the longest fish with pectoral fins.
Oarfish have an eel-like body shape with beautiful metallic scales. They prefer water between 600 and 3,000 feet in depth, but have sometimes been seen feeding on krill at depths as shallow as 20 feet below the surface. They are so rare, in fact, that they are hardly ever seen still alive.
They lack scales, which is why their skin is soft on the surface and get’s easily damaged. According to those who have eaten one, they taste like gelatinous goo and their flesh is flabby and gooey.
Let's learn more about why they are also subject to superstitious beliefs.
The Serpent Tales
Oarfishes are not a common sight to anyone most specially to the community living near the sea shores. Because these types of fishes stay deep, they don't often get to the shallow parts of the sea except in cases where they are already dead and had been washed up. Because of this, when one sees an Oarfish alive, it becomes a subject of tales and mysterious stories.
Perhaps the stories of seeing serpents in the ocean was because of the appearance of these types of creatures. I have heard of these kinds of stories too when I was little. Being a child living in the province where the sea and the mountain are just our playground, we often get scary warnings from our parents and the neighbors when we don't get out of the water even after darkness. They tell us about serpents who are living in the deep which will go into the shore to take kids who are still swimming even at night.
Indeed that makes us scared and we are persuaded to get out of the water. That might also be one of the reasons why night swimming is not common in our area.
But aside from that, the same types of stories and tales are also being told around the globe for sea serpents.
Oarfish are Safe and Gentle
Unlike the stories told by our elders, I realized these have just been told to make children obey their parents. These creatures are not harmful at all. They don't have electrifying properties along their fins to hurt someone.
They don't have huge teeth to bite off our skin and bodies just like sharks, their bodies are bony so they can't grasp any human body like those of snakes and they are only eating tiny plankton!
Imagine a plankton, which is a very tiny creature! That's what these Oarfishes are eating! How did they grow that huge considering they are only eating planktons? Truly amazing and mysterious at the same time.
Aside from it being safe, it is also a gentle one. I have seen some video footage of it from underneath in the sea where it just stays there, it would be as close to the videographer or the medium yet it wouldn't scare away or what, it would even go nearer to the camera, such a sweetie!
This actually goes to show that there are still a lot of creatures under the sea that the human eye have not seen.
Oarfish Detects Earthquake?
Aside from its mystical sides, the Oarfish also has been said to be able to detect earthquakes. However, there have been no scientific explanations to it up to this date. Mainly because Oarfish are not commonly seen in their natural habitat, most of the time, they are being seen in the shore or near shore daze or sick and eventually they die, most of the time, they are found already dead!
But why are there speculations of it being able to detect earthquake?
Japan Earthquakes
According to Japan folklore, Oarfish will rise from the depths before an earthquake.
In Japan, shortly before the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami attack, there were around 20 Oarfishes got stranded in a beach. Japanese refer Oarfish as a messenger from the sea god's palace, thus they refer it to be sending a message or a notion that something might happen. And according to traditional belief, if many of the fish wash up, it may signal a coming earthquake.
Just like another occurrence in Chile with the powerful 8.8 magnitude earthquake, dozens of Oarfishes were discovered by Japanese fishermen.
Kiyoshi Wadatsumi, a scientist who studies earthquakes at the nonprofit organization e-PISCO, told the paper, “Deep-sea fish living near the sea bottom are more sensitive to the movements of active faults than those near the surface of the sea.”
Oarfish in Cebu : Sign of a Bad Omen?
image courtesy of earthtouchnews
The recent event of seeing an Oarfish washed up to the shore of Cebu or even in the Philippines is not a first time event. Few years ago, in fact in 2016, a few instances were also recorded. One in Leyte, another in Talisay Cebu, Catmon, another one in Albay and yet another one in Danao City.
But nonetheless, people around Facebook and other social media sites had speculations regarding the appearance of these deep sea creatures. As previous studies revealed that when creatures behave differently to their natural one, there might be catastrophic events coming soon. Research shows that animals can indeed detect earthquakes such as birds, fishes, toads and even cockroaches! I believe there is indeed something happening underneath that caused these fishes to show up in the shallows.
Reading on the comments, there were lots and lots of ideas and reactions upon seeing the image. There were some who were worried:
While others are feeling that they know a lot of the event, there are really no exact reason as to why the long fish had been brought ashore. One thing is for sure though, it was dead when it arrived.
However when two or more of the same extremely rare specie have been washed ashore within weeks of one another, I believe they didn't "commit suicide", perhaps it might be an idea to investigate and work out why and how this had happened. But note that none of these hypotheses, however, is ready to be developed into an animal-based, early-warning system for earth tremors.
The fish leaving its habitat in a particular part of the ocean could be an indicator of the altered living conditions therein caused by garbage, climate change, volcanic action which can be used as basis for speculations on things or events to come. Observations are bases of scientific explanations.
That should be it for now folks, I know everyone has their own stand and beliefs in this kind of event and we should respect everyone's opinion. May it be a sign or a natural phenomenon as a certain creature's life gets to its dusk, we don't know anything at all. Only the One who made it and who controls the earth we live in can tell why these Oarfish show up.
The Oarfish is indeed rarely observed alive, and recently have been noted of no commercial value to us. It probably isn’t endangered, though it certainly is not abundant. It shares this planet with us, mostly out of our view, which is the safest place for it to be. It is a reminder that life on Earth is incredibly diverse.
Have you learned something today? I did!
Regards,
