A rare oarfish was reported washed ashore at Playa Quemada on Lanzarote on February 10, 2025. Its “doomsday fish” nickname comes from folklore—not evidence that it predicts earthquakes or other catastrophes. The cause of this fish’s stranding has not been established.
What happened on the Canary Islands beach?
The Independent reported that beachgoers found the fish at Playa Quemada, on the island of Lanzarote, on February 10, 2025. The outlet described it as silver and ribbon-shaped, with orange fins, and reported that video of the discovery spread online. Those event details are attributed to the outlet; no official local record confirming this specific find is established here.
What is a “doomsday fish”?
The name refers to the oarfish’s folklore association with disasters, not to a scientific category. AFP identifies the animal as Regalecus glesne, a deep-sea fish with a ribbon-like body that can reach 10 metres. NOAA Fisheries describes oarfish as inhabitants of the mesopelagic zone. NOAA biologist Russ Vetter has said they can hold a vertical, nearly motionless posture in the water using their dorsal fin, and emphasized that their ecology remains poorly understood.
Does an oarfish predict an earthquake or tsunami?
No reliable evidence in the cited sources supports using an oarfish sighting as an earthquake or tsunami warning. AFP’s fact-check reports that a 2018 study examined reported appearances of deep-sea fish and earthquakes in Japan from 1928 to 2011. The study found the spatiotemporal relationship “hardly found” and concluded that the folklore was superstition associated with illusory correlation.
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That finding is not proof that no animal could ever respond to any geophysical process. It does mean the evidence described does not establish a useful predictive link. Reports of oarfish found before the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake—including a secondary report cited by The Independent of 20 oarfish discovered in Japan in the preceding months—do not by themselves show prediction; sightings and a later earthquake are not evidence of causation.
Why did this oarfish wash ashore?
The reason for the Lanzarote stranding is unknown from the cited reporting. Vetter discussed currents as a working hypothesis for a separate oarfish case in Southern California, while stressing that he had no evidence for that explanation. It cannot be treated as the cause of the Canary Islands stranding.
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“So without any evidence, and I’ll stress that, it seems reasonable to me based on the freshness of the fish that it must have stranded or died fairly close to where it eventually washed up.”
— Russ Vetter, geneticist and physiologist with NOAA’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center
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Vetter’s comment concerned the separate California case, not the Lanzarote fish. The cited reporting does not establish an official examination or a specific cause of death for the Canary Islands animal.
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