After the capture of a 16-foot-long sea creature off the coast of Chile, users of the social media platform TikTok have vowed to “build an ark.” According to local legend, the sea creature is a portent of natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis. You may watch a video of the enormous fish by clicking here:
A crew of fishermen from the city of Arica recently reeled in a monstrous oarfish, which is also known as a rowing fish. Footage of the massive fish being lifted up to display its incredible enormity was recently uploaded to the video-sharing platform TikTok.
The video of the huge fish, which was more than five meters long, got 10 million views and 600,000 likes on the platform; many users on the network couldn’t believe their eyes when they saw it.
One person stated: “”That is one terrifyingly incredible fish,”
Someone else said, “And from this situation, how can we escape?”
A third wrote as follows: “Yup, we’re dead.”
A fourth participant remarked, “Imagine swimming and all of a sudden it arrives… I’m going to die.”
Someone else questioned ‘why the hell’ the fishermen had grabbed the enormous fish, and someone else made a joke saying: “I will begin construction of the ark on my own, just like Noah did.”
One additional user commented something along these lines in an attempt to offer an explanation for the concern: “The depths are home to the oarfish. It is thought that the reason why they start to come to the surface is because the tectonic plates are moving.”
In point of fact, the Japanese people have always regarded the presence of an oarfish – sometimes known as a ‘rowing fish’ due to its appearance – as a portent of impending earthquakes and tsunamis. They also think that whoever discovers an oarfish would bring bad luck upon themselves.
The fish, which can grow to lengths of up to 11 meters, inhabit deep water and only come to the surface when they are sick, dying, or breeding. This behavior has given rise to the widespread belief that the fish come to the surface in response to shifts in the climate.
Even if this is just a notion that has never been proven correct by scientific research, the authorities in charge of the area need to figure out what drove the creature to the surface.
The oarfish is the longest bony fish in the world, according to National Geographic, yet it is seldom seen because it lives at “considerable depths” of approximately 3,300 feet (1,000m).
To our great relief, however, they pose no threat because the only food they consume is the tiniest plankton.
“Although oarfish were likely the source of many historic tales of sea serpents and sea monsters, they are hardly dangerous to people,” the science and nature outlet explained. “Although oarfish were likely the source of many historic tales of sea serpents and sea monsters, they are hardly dangerous to people.”
“Oarfish have a very small mouth opening, which is necessary because the plankton they eat are quite small. They don’t even have genuine teeth; rather, they have structures called gill rakers that are much more flimsy and are used to grab very small creatures.
It went on to say that “Oarfish have been sighted infrequently near the surface of the ocean, but scientists suspect that they are pushed there by storms or strong currents, or that they wind up there when they are in distress or dying.”
Although a sputtering oarfish might look like a menacing sea monster, it is not believed to be a threat to either humans or boaters.