The capturing of a rare sea creature in Latin America has caused fear among locals as it is usually associated with a "bad omen". Videos and photos of people gathering to see the humongous fish have gone viral. However, experts are trying to reassure that the belief is nothing but a superstition. In Chile's city of Arica, fishermen found a huge 16-feet-long oarfish hard to usually spot in the ocean. Videos showing a crane hoisting the gigantic bony fish have created a huge buzz online, particularly on TikTok. According to local reports, people from the town gathered to see the fish, which is believed to reside in deep water and surface only during the breeding season or when unwell or dying. However, as the videos went viral, it was linked to Japanese folklore in which the mystic creatures are believed to be a sign of an impending disaster like a tsunami or earthquake. Japanese people believe whoever finds the creature, also called "rowing fish", will be cursed, LadBible reported. However, there has been no scientific proof to back the claim. In 2019, Uozu Aquarium keeper Kazusa Saiba told CNN that the spotting of oarfish, traditionally known as "Ryugu no tsukai" (messenger from the sea god's palace) in Japanese, could be related to global warming or subtle changes in the earth's crust. It could "cause the current to stir and push creatures at the bottom to the surface". While there have been claims that deep-sea seismic activity causes the oarfish to flee, it is something scientists still have not agreed upon. In an article published in National Geographic, Mark Benfield, an oceanographer and ecologist at Louisiana State University, said, "Whatever the oceanographic phenomena are that push these animals on shore, they’re probably on a large- enough scale to affect more than one oarfish." The article underlined that most oarfish discovered by people were dying or already dead when they washed ashore, debunking myths of their discovery being a precursor to natural disasters.
