When fishermen off Rameswaram Harbour in Tamil Nadu’s Ramanathapuram district hauled in a 30-foot (9-meter) oarfish in late May 2025, they didn’t just catch a rare sea creature — they pulled up a centuries-old myth into the digital age. The silver, ribbon-like fish, known locally as the ‘Doomsday Fish,’ shimmered under the sun, its elongated body trailing like a ghostly banner from the deep. Within hours, video clips of the 6-kilogram catch went viral across India, then Australia, New Zealand, and Japan — sparking a wave of unease that had nothing to do with science and everything to do with memory.
Ghost of the Deep, Reappearing
The oarfish (Regalecus glesne), one of the world’s longest bony fish, typically dwells between 200 and 1,000 feet below the surface, rarely seen by humans. But in the past six months, it’s been spotted with eerie frequency: first in Tamil Nadu, then off Tasmania’s west coast, then near New Zealand’s South Island. Each sighting, captured on phone cameras and fishing nets, was met with the same question: Is this a warning?
Scientifically, the answer is no. Dr. N. Raghavendra of the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) was blunt: ‘There is no scientific evidence linking oarfish appearances to earthquakes.’ A 2019 Pacific Ocean study of over 1,200 deep-sea species found no correlation between surface sightings and seismic activity. But logic doesn’t always calm fear.
Japan’s Shadow: 2011 and the Memory of 19,000
It’s impossible to discuss oarfish without conjuring the ghost of March 11, 2011. Before the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami — which killed nearly 19,000 people — dozens of oarfish washed ashore along Japan’s Pacific coast. Fishermen reported them floating belly-up, their long bodies tangled in nets. Locals whispered. Newspapers ran headlines. Scientists shrugged. But the pattern stuck.
Now, with oarfish reappearing across the globe, that memory is being resurrected. In Japan, the fish is called ryūgū-no-tsukai — ‘messenger from the dragon’s palace’ — a harbinger of disaster in folklore. And when a video of the Tamil Nadu catch reached Japanese social media, one comment gained 800,000 likes: ‘It’s happening again. We ignored it last time.’
Myth Meets Misinformation
Enter Baba Vanga — or rather, the internet’s version of her. The late Bulgarian clairvoyant, whose name is often misattributed to Japanese mystic Ryō Tatsumi, has been retroactively quoted in hundreds of posts claiming she predicted a ‘giant crack’ in the ocean between Japan and the Philippines on July 5, 2025. No such prophecy exists in her recorded works. But the internet doesn’t care. A trending hashtag in India — #OarfishWarning — now shares side-by-side images: the fish, then footage of California sinkholes from 2023, then a blurry 2011 tsunami clip.
It’s not just social media. In coastal villages from Kerala to Sulawesi, elders are recounting old stories: ‘When the sea snake rises, the earth trembles.’ In Tamil Nadu, temple priests have begun offering special prayers for ‘earth stability.’ Local authorities, meanwhile, are fielding calls from panicked residents asking if they should evacuate.
What’s Really Going On Beneath the Waves?
Marine biologists have plausible, if less dramatic, explanations. Oarfish are sensitive to changes in water pressure, temperature, and oxygen levels. A sudden drop in dissolved oxygen — perhaps from an algal bloom — can force deep-sea creatures to the surface. Underwater landslides triggered by tectonic stress, even minor ones, can disorient them. And in a warming ocean, their usual habitat is shrinking.
‘We’re seeing more deep-sea animals wash ashore globally,’ says Dr. Lena Chen, a marine ecologist at the University of Melbourne. ‘It’s not supernatural. It’s symptomatic. The ocean is stressed. The fish aren’t predicting earthquakes — they’re reacting to the same changes that are making storms fiercer, coral bleaching more frequent, and fisheries collapsing.’
The timing of these sightings — clustered in late spring and early summer — also aligns with seasonal oceanographic shifts in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The Indian Ocean Dipole, a climate pattern affecting monsoon strength, was unusually strong in early 2025. That likely altered currents, pushing deep-sea life into unfamiliar zones.
Why This Matters Beyond Fear
This isn’t just about superstition. It’s about how societies process uncertainty. When science offers no easy answers, people turn to stories — ancestral, cultural, or viral — to make sense of chaos. The oarfish has become a blank screen onto which we project our fears: of earthquakes, of climate collapse, of systems failing without warning.
In Tamil Nadu, the fish was released back into the sea after being photographed. No one knows if it survived. But the ripple effect? That’s still spreading. In Sri Lanka, fishers now carry smartphones to document any unusual catches. In Indonesia, schools are adding ‘ocean signs’ to their environmental curriculum — not as prophecy, but as a lesson in ecological awareness.
What’s Next?
INCOIS has launched a citizen science initiative to log all oarfish sightings across the Indian Ocean. Satellite tracking of deep-sea temperature anomalies is being expanded. Meanwhile, the World Meteorological Organization is monitoring whether the frequency of deep-sea species surfacing is increasing — not as a seismic signal, but as a climate indicator.
One thing is clear: the next time a 30-foot fish washes up on a beach, the world won’t just take a video. It will ask: Is this nature’s alarm… or our own fear echoing back at us?
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there any scientific proof that oarfish predict earthquakes?
No. Despite popular myths, studies by INCOIS and the Pacific Marine Science Institute found no statistical link between oarfish appearances and seismic events. The fish’s surface appearances are more likely tied to environmental stressors like oxygen depletion, temperature shifts, or underwater disturbances — not tectonic activity.
Why did oarfish appear before the 2011 Japan tsunami?
Oarfish were sighted before the 2011 tsunami, but so were many other unusual marine events — dead jellyfish, floating seaweed, and disoriented dolphins. The connection was noticed only after the disaster, a classic case of confirmation bias. Scientists now view it as coincidence amplified by memory, not causation.
Are oarfish endangered?
The oarfish is not officially classified as endangered by the IUCN. But its deep-sea habitat is increasingly threatened by warming waters, deep-sea trawling, and plastic pollution. Sightings are rare not because the species is vanishing — but because we rarely go where they live.
Why are people in South Asia connecting oarfish to earthquakes?
In coastal cultures from Tamil Nadu to the Philippines, deep-sea anomalies have long been interpreted as omens. The 2011 Japan tsunami reinforced this belief globally through social media. It’s less about science and more about cultural storytelling — a way to make sense of unpredictable natural disasters when early warning systems feel inadequate.
Could climate change be causing more oarfish to surface?
Yes. Rising sea temperatures are altering deep-ocean currents and reducing oxygen levels in mid-water zones, forcing species like oarfish into shallower, unfamiliar waters. Marine biologists have documented similar shifts in other deep-sea fish — a silent signal of oceanic disruption, not a prophecy.
What should I do if I see an oarfish?
Document it safely — take photos, note the location and time, and report it to local marine authorities or citizen science platforms like INCOIS’s new sighting portal. Don’t try to touch or move it. These fish are fragile and often die out of water. Your report could help scientists track ocean health, not predict disasters.