As for why people consider the oarfish to be a “doomsday” fish, NBC News explains that — as oarfish typically dwell in the deep ocean — the appearance of one suggests a coming natural disaster like an earthquake. About 20, for example, washed up prior to an earthquake in Japan in 2011, the country’s worst on record.

A rare fish, regarded as a harbinger of doom, has washed up on the shore of Encinitas in southern California.It is the second time this year that an oarfish has been found in the area.Sightings are very rare,