An 11-foot-long oarfish was found dead afternoon on Tuesday, October 14, 2025, along the coast of Barangay Dalahican, San Jose, Roxas, Oriental Mindoro, reviving long-held beliefs that the deep-sea fish signals the arrival of disasters, like earthquakes, though science suggests otherwise.
According to the Municipal Agriculture Office, a fisherman said he saw the oarfish swimming toward the shore before it died eventually. Residents buried the fish later.
This was the first oarfish sighting in their barangay.
According to the National Geographic Society, oarfish are large, ribbon-shaped deep-sea fish that can grow more than 30 feet long and usually live at depths of up to 1,000 meters. Because they rarely surface, sightings are considered unusual and often draw public attention.
The sighting in Mindoro sparked discussions and triggered fears linked to possible natural disasters.
"Sabi daw ng matatanda me babala yan. Nangyari na or mangyayari pa lang. Pray lng po tayo mga kababayan," one netizen wrote.
"This maybe a warning to us, wake up, pray, for everything written in the Bible will come to pass," another netizen commented.
"Ingat may mga naunang observation tungkol sa lindol at pagpakita ng ganyang klaseng isda," a netizen said.
"Masamang pangitain ang oarfish, may disaster na mangyayari, kalimitan lindol or tsunami, huwag naman sana," another added.
"[This is a] sign [for] tsunami and earthquake. Lord, huwag naman po sana, alam po namin na walang mahirap sayo. Alam kong mahal mo ang Mindoro," a netizen said.
FOLKLORE AND FACTS
In Japan, oarfish are part of folklore as “messengers from the sea god’s palace” (ryūgū-no-tsukai), believed by some to anticipate earthquakes whenever they appear near shore.
In a 2019 study published in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, Yoshiaki Orihara of Tokai University in Japan and his colleagues analyzed 336 sightings of oarfish and other deep-sea fish sightings in Japan and compared them with nearby 221 earthquakes.
They found only one case where both occurred close in time and location. Orihara and his colleagues concluded that “one can hardly confirm the association between the two phenomena.”
Agence France-Presse's (AFP) fact-check service states similarly that “experts told AFP there is no evidence to support the claim” that oarfish sightings foreshadow earthquakes, citing the same 2018/2019 Japanese data.
PAST SIGHTINGS, EXPERT INSIGHT
In December 2023, two oarfishes were washed ashore in Ligao City, Albay. It was the fourth recorded sighting of an oarfish in the region.
The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) in Bicol clarified that the emergence of oarfish, while a rare occurrence, could be influenced by various factors in the ocean that affect their sensitivity.
"Kadakol mga triggering factors kung tano nagsu-surface sinda, one as I have mentioned sensitive sinda, ining mga sea creatures na ini, ining oarfish, sensitive sinda sa mga stress sa irarom [kan karagatan], so kapag may mga disturbances sa irarom yan ang mga tendency ninda,” Wheng Briones, spokesperson for BFAR Bicol, told GMA Regional TV News.
(There are many triggering factors as to why they surface, one as I have mentioned is that oarfish are sensitive, so if there are disturbances in deep sea they have the tendency to surface.)
WHY OARFISH SURFACE OR STRAND
Scientists propose several more plausible
mechanisms for why oarfish show up closer to shore:
- Illness, injury, or disorientation may drive them into unsuitable habitat.
- Changes in oceanographic conditions, such as shifting currents, temperature anomalies, or upwelling, might carry them upward.
- Buoyancy changes shortly after death may allow carcasses to drift upward and wash ashore.
Because many parts of the deep sea is yet to be explored, researchers caution that many variables remain unknown.
In recent weeks, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) has recorded several earthquakes in the country, attributing them to normal tectonic activity along known and newly discovered faults.
PHIVOLCS has not issued any statement linking oarfish appearances with seismic activity.
