Oarfish, the deep water “serpent-like-children’s-fairytale-book-looking-fish” rarely seen at the sea surface, have been sighted 4 times from the East Cape to La Paz over the weekend. One live sighting, and three beached Oarfish that were deceased, posted on social media.
The live Oarfish sighting was filmed swimming offshore of Punta Perico mid-way between Punta Arenas and Bahía de Los Muertos. See the video footage taken by captain Eduardo León.
A second Oarfish was found beached, unfortunately, deceased, near Punta Arenas March 27th. It was estimated to be 10 ft long. See documentation of location and close up video of the fish sent to us by Brandon Wells. A third Oarfish was confirmed dead and beached in La Ribera just north of Cabo Pulmo, and a fourth met the same fate at Coromuel Public Beach in La Paz. We have no reporting beyond that on these two events.
Not a person on the planet has the answer to why Oarfish get stranded. Let us work together to figure this out!
Check out Oarfish Rescue, and Swimming with Oarfish, to observe Oarfish behavior to learn more about them. In them, they are navigating unfamiliar territory. Comment on what you notice there.
Our Oarfish Beaching Awareness Project group chat has assembled a team to gather information about Oarfish beachings, take samples of deceased Oarfish organs that can be analyzed. In order to accomplish this, we need to get word early-on of Oarfish beachings to get a fresh sample. This sampling can help us determine if this rare fish has been impacted by natural or man-made toxins. For now, we can’t answer why they are becoming stranded on beaches. By working together, maybe we can figure this out, or nudge the discussion a little.
We appreciate any information the public can provide, including photos or videos should you encounter one or if you have encountered one in the past, we’d love to hear from you!
To report an Oarfish beaching, please include the following 5 things, if possible! Thanks.
Location, Time, Date, Length, photo
Send to William at WhatsApp 52 612 204 5156 or desertplayer@hotmail.com
We have an instructional video “How to Rescue an Oarfish” (Spanish version) in case you should find one alive on the beach and want to return it to the water. Oarfish are extremely delicate and easily harmed during rescue attempts. The video can help reduce this type of unintended harm.
Visit Observing Baja Coral Reef Fish to learn more about the local coral reef ecology.
Thanks to Ron Czarnecki for helping w/a rewrite of my 1st draft!