‘Harbinger of doom’ fish appeared on coast two days before earthquake

Finding a fish in the ocean isn't anything unusual, but if you come across an oarfish then you might be worried.

In California a 12 foot oarfish, also known as the 'Doomsday fish' or even 'Harbinger of doom', was spotted dead in the ocean just two days before an earthquake hit.

The deep sea fish, also known as Regalecus glesne, are characterised by their long, ribbon-like bodies. The fish can grow up to 50-feet-long and are most commonly found 3,000ft below water.

While the sheer size of them is alarming to see in itself, the superstition and worries that are matched with them makes them even more of a worrying sight.

The oarfish is also known as the 'Doomsday' fish. (Scripps Institution of Oceanography/Facebook)

They're not often seen - or captured - due to the fact they reside so far down but when they do make an appearance it's believed to be a bad sign.

According to the Ocean Conservancy, they're sometimes call the 'doomsday fish', because lore has it that spotting them means a dangerous natural phenomenon such as a big earthquake is about to occur.

In this case, the huge oarfish was spotted by kayakers and snorkelers exploring San Diego’s La Jolla Cove.

Just 48 hours later, a 4.6 earthquake shook Los Angeles.

The quake struck on Monday (August 12) and was centered near the LA neighborhood of Highland Park.

While there were reports of buildings shaking and car alarms going off, there was no significant damage or injuries.

At the time of its discovery, those in the water didn't appear disturbed by the oarfish and instead posed for some snaps, they did still report the find.

They alerted UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography to what they found, where officials are now performing an investigation to determine what killed the creature and led to its body showing up in shallow waters.

This also isn't the first time that the creature has been seen in 2024, as earlier this year a 12.5ft oarfish was found washed up on a beach in the Philippines.

And in 2022, a 16 foot oarfish was found in Japan just days before nine million people needed to be evacuated before a typhoon.

Around a dozen oarfish were washed onto beaches in 2010 - prior to the 2011 Tohoku earthquake - which has seen many believe the superstition around the fish to be true.

Little is known about oarfish as they live so far down in the ocean and are rarely found alive. (Scripps Institution of Oceanography/Facebook)

For California an oarfish sighting is even more rare as records held by the UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography show that only 20 oarfish have washed up in the entire state since 1901.

More often than not, the fish are found dead rather than alive, meaning it's been hard to study and understand them.

Ben Frable, manager of the Marine Vertebrate Collection explained: "People have studied them, but we’ve very rarely interacted with them alive in their natural habitat.

"It’s always been a fish of interest, this long, beautiful silver fish. It definitely looks fanciful; it evokes the sea serpent mythology."