Giant Oar Fish (3 meters more or less) natagpuan sa baybayin ng Brgy. Cala-Cala, Balingasag, Misamis Oriental, ng mga mangingisda, Tuesday (afternoon), September 18, 2012.
Giant Oar-Fish, also known as the King of Herrings is the world's longest bony fish, reaching up to 17 meters and weighing upwards of 300 kg. Living 300-1000 meters below the ocean's surface, it is a rarely-seen deep sea wonder. Nevertheless, many scientists believe that this colossal beast may be responsible for many of the strange sea monster sightings reported throughout the years.
Despite the scarcity of sightings, there are several documented encounters with this species:
- In 1996, a 7-meter specimen was caught off of the coast of California.
- On Dec. 10, 2010, a live specimen measuring 4 meters was caught off the Sinaloan coast of Mexico. One of the fisherman who caught it cautioned that "it might be the devil" and "feared it might swallow them."
- On April 6, 2011, a 3.5 meter Giant Oar-Fish was found off of the east coast of Taiwan. It is believed that the creature surfaced as a result of the tsunami that hit Japan in March. Thus, it was given the nickname "Earthquake Fish."
Source: Aljun Acenas Fermo and Biodiversity Library
