Rare oarfish washes ashore in Lombok, but experts say it is not an earthquake warning

A rare oarfish measuring about four metres was found dead at Pink Beach in Sekaroh village, Jerowaru district, East Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, on Tuesday, prompting viral social media posts and speculation about possible links to natural disasters.

The fish was discovered at around 7:30 a.m. local time by visitors from Central Lombok who had been camping at the beach since the previous night, according to detik.com.

Footage posted by Facebook account @Baiq Kolby showed several children and an adult man carrying the flat-bodied fish along the beach. The fish appeared motionless.

Sahlan, head of Telone hamlet in Sekaroh village, confirmed the discovery to detikBali and said the people who found the fish were visitors rather than local residents.

He said the fish was later taken away by the visitors who found it. 

Earthquake claims dismissed

The discovery quickly became associated with claims that oarfish, sometimes known as “doomsday fish”, can signal earthquakes or other disasters.

Muslim, head of the West Nusa Tenggara Marine and Fisheries Agency, said such claims were a myth.

“Yes, that is a myth, or conversely it could be an effect of the earthquake in NTT recently. The fish is not dangerous,” Muslim said when contacted on Tuesday.

Sahlan said the viral discussion had not caused panic among residents in the coastal area.

Muslihuddin, an academic with the Fisheries Resource Utilisation programme at Gunung Rinjani University, also said the fish’s appearance should not be treated as a warning of an impending disaster.

He said climate change and the El Niño phenomenon could potentially be factors, although he stressed that this was his opinion and would require deeper research to establish.

“If it is associated with climate change and the El Niño phenomenon, it may make sense. But this is only my opinion because in-depth research is needed to prove it. If it is linked to disasters, the factor is not very significant,” Muslihuddin said.

Oarfish live in the deep sea

Muslim identified the animal as an oarfish, also known locally as ikan dayung.

The species is a deep-sea fish that is rarely seen at the surface or along beaches.

Muslim said the emergence of oarfish near the surface can be caused by changes in temperature and other oceanographic factors in the sea.

Tasywiruddin, head of the East Lombok Marine and Fisheries Agency, said the specimen found at Pink Beach was still young. He said adult oarfish can reach up to 11 metres and that authorities did not yet have reliable data on the number of the fish in East Lombok waters.

“Because as an adult it can reach 11 metres. Its habitat or place of life is in the deep sea, and we also do not yet have real data,” Tasywiruddin said.

Sahlan said he had never previously seen an oarfish and identified it after searching online.

“During this time, this is the first time I have seen one. I finally searched Google for the name, and it was called an oarfish,” he said.

Similar strandings reported elsewhere

Muslihuddin said oarfish have also been found stranded in countries including India, Australia and New Zealand, but said those occurrences were not followed by the earthquakes or disasters discussed on social media.

The fish found in Lombok was described by Sahlan as about four metres long and having an unusual shape resembling a samurai sword. 

The initial description of the fish in the viral footage put its length at about two to four metres. Muslim said references indicate oarfish can grow to more than 10 metres. 

Fish can be consumed but freshness matters

Tasywiruddin said oarfish can be eaten, although he had never personally consumed one and could not say whether it was tasty.

“I am not so sure. But clearly, yes, it can be eaten. Whether it is tasty or not, because it is not a common catch for fishermen, I also do not know whether it is good,” he said on Wednesday, 26 August.

Muslihuddin similarly said oarfish are safe to consume but warned about the condition of the particular specimen found at the beach because it was already dead.