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10-foot-long 'sea serpent' surfaced in Philippine waters prior to the Feb. 10 earthquake: Fish, prophet of doom?

By Mauricia | Feb 18, 2017 08:45 AM EST
A giant oarfish was found dead by fisherman near the town of #Buenavista, #Agusan del Norte just two days before a magnitude 6.7 struck the area February 10.
(Photo : Instagram/viscardi366)

Calamity comes the least expected. An earthquake struck Surigao City in the Philippines two days after an oarfish or 'sea serpent' was found dead by fishermen. It is believed that the said fish is a messenger of an upcoming calamity.

Sunstar Philippines reported that on Wednesday, Feb. 15, another oarfish which is also known as sea serpent was found prior to the 10-foot-long caught a week before on the same town of Carmen, Agusan del Norte. The first oarfish was discovered on Feb. 8 which was two days before the occurrence of a 6.7-magnitude earthquake that struck Surigao City.

Some people believed that deep sea creatures especially those that live in the abyss are signs of looming calamity when it surfaced in shallow waters. Oarfish or sea serpents are dubbed as a prophet of doom and is still a debate if it's a fact or fiction.

According to a lecturer in animal biology, Rachel Grant, "It's theoretically possible because when an earthquake occurs there can be a build-up of pressure in the rocks which can lead to electrostatic charges that cause electrically charged ions to be released into the water."

National Geographic reported that giant oarfish with a scientific name of Regalecus glesne were first seen in 1772 and emerges sporadically around the globe. Most of the times, it's two or three during a short period of time. Maybe little is known about such phenomenon but scientists believe that the deep-dwelling sea serpent making its habitat at 200 to 1,000 meters underneath the ocean are forced to emerge every now and then by strong currents and pounding winds.

Oarfish or sea serpent is considered the longest bony fish ever to dwell in the ocean and is a member of the Regalecidae family. Regalecidae came from the Latin word regalis which means 'royal'. Since the fish thrives at a profundity that humans still attempt to discover, very scarce studies have been conducted providing scant information.

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