18-foot oarfish discovered off southern California coast

18-foot oarfish discovered off southern California coast

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/15/us/california-18-foot-oarfish/

By Kevin Wang, CNN

October 16, 2013 -- Updated 1234 GMT (2034 HKT)

(CNN) -- A marine science instructor's late-afternoon snorkel off the Southern California coast last Sunday was first met with shock and soon excitement when she discovered a gigantic oarfish, a deep-sea creature that remains little known to the science world and people outside. Jasmine Santana was about 15 feet underwater when she found the 18-foot-long, silvery fish with reddish fins and eyes the size of a half-dollar staring at her from the sandy bottom. Realizing it was dead, she snatched the fish's tail, and using buoyancy and low tides, powered her way back on shore. "I was first a little scared," said the still-thrilled Santana, who has been working for Catalina Island Marine Institute since January. "But when I realized it was an oarfish, I knew it was harmless." Giant eyeball washes up on beach After a 15-minute swim dragging the 400-pound carcass, she needed help from 14 others to lift the fish out of the water at Toyon Bay, California. "I was really amazed. It was like seeing something in a dream," said Mark Waddington, the senior captain of CIMI's sailing school vessel the "Tole Mour" who gave Santana a hand. "It's the first time I ever witnessed an oarfish this big." Discovery makes a splash: The rarest whale "Oarfish are found in all temperate to tropical waters, but are rarely seen, dead or alive," CIMI, a non-profit marine science education group, said in a release. "It is believed that oarfish dive over 3,000 feet deep, which leaves them largely unstudied. and little is known about their behavior or population." Waddington, who has been with CIMI since 1994, said it remains unclear why the oarfish was found in shallow water this time, but it appeared to have died naturally. Waddington said while the oarfish's carcass is still being preserved in ice, CIMI has been sending some of its tissues and other samples to marine scientists, including Dr. Milton Love, a fish expert from University of California at Santa Barbara, to study its DNA and diet habits. Waddington said CIMI will likely to keep the fish's skeleton for educational purposes. Its program attracts more than 30,000 school-age children each year. Seal gives shark the slip in great white photo Face to face with great white sharks to sold '450-million-year mystery' Shark found on New York subway car


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「ギョギョ！」リュウグウノツカイ、サケガシラ　室戸沖で深海魚多数かかる　大地震の前触れ！？

http://sankei.jp.msn.com/west/west_life/news/130904/wlf13090407550000-n1.htm

2013.9.4 07:50

（1/2ページ）［東南海・南海地震］

室戸岬沖の定置網で捕獲されたリュウグウノツカイ＝８月、高知県室戸市（ＮＰＯ法人日本ウミガメ協議会室戸基地提供）

高知県の室戸岬沖の定置網で、７月と８月に多くの深海魚が捕獲された。専門家によると夏に深海魚が見つかるのは珍しく、地元漁師らも異変に首をかしげている。

年１回のはず…立て続け４回８１匹も！

室戸岬沖の定置網で捕獲されたリュウグウノツカイ＝８月、高知県室戸市（ＮＰＯ法人日本ウミガメ協議会室戸基地提供）

室戸市に拠点があるＮＰＯ法人によると、捕獲された深海魚は、赤い背びれと鮮やかな銀色の長い体が特徴のリュウグウノツカイ（竜宮の使い）や、目が大きく、タチウオに似た形のサケガシラなど。リュウグウノツカイの漂着は地震の前触れとの言い伝えも。東海沖から三重、和歌山、高知にかけての太平洋側は東南海・南海地震が遠からず起こることもあり、地元漁師らは避難場所を確認しているという。

いずれも室戸市の地元漁師が深さ約７０メートル付近に仕掛けた定置網で、４回の漁で計８１匹がかかった。ＮＰＯ法人が調査し、カウントしている。通常は年に１回ぐらい、数匹かかる程度という。

神奈川県立生命の星・地球博物館の瀬能宏専門学芸員（魚類分類学）は「風の向きや強さ、潮の流れが変化し、深層から海流が湧き上がったためでは」と推測する。しかし、夏場は太陽光で温められた軽い表層の海水と、冷たく重い深層の海水との間で循環が起きにくく、深海魚は浅い所に来ないのが普通という。

2013.9.4 07:50 （2/2ページ）
リュウグウノツカイをめぐっては、日本海側の福井県、越前海岸の米ノ海水浴場（同県越前町）でも８月に見つかっている。
　越前松島水族館（同県坂井市）によると、同月６日に海水浴に来ていた岐阜県多治見市の中学２年、加納有沙さん（１３）が、深さ１メートルほどの海中に浮いている死骸を発見。福井県に住む親戚を通じて同館に連絡した。

　リュウグウノツカイは水深２００メートル以上の深海でも生息していることが知られている。長く伸びた赤い背びれと鮮やかな銀色の体が特徴だが、詳しい生態は分かっていない。３～５メートルほどの体長のものが多いが、今回見つかったのは約１・２メートルと小さい個体。リュウグウノツカイ漂着は地震の前触れとの言い伝えもある。