Elleda Wilson: Sea serpent surplus
Jul. 14—Fishy rerun: Columbia River's Colossal Claude's sea serpent cousins have been popping up in California. An 18-foot deep-sea giant oarfish carcass was found off Catalina Island recently, but then a second 14-foot oarfish carcass washed up in Oceanside, California, Oct. 18.
The oarfish is the world's longest bony fish. They don't have scales or teeth, and you don't want one for dinner, as they taste like "gelatinous goo."
A traditional Japanese belief says if oarfish start washing up on the beach, it may signal an impending earthquake. Kiyoshi Wadatsumi, an earthquake scientist, thinks that's because they live at great depths, and are "sensitive to the movements of active faults." Time will tell. (Photo: Mark Bussey/AP) (In One Ear, 11/1/2013)
