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Two 15-Foot Oarfish Seen In Shallow Water [Video]
Oarfish are among the aquatic creatures that are rarely seen, but a pair of the elusive animals were recently filmed in shallow water under a boat.
It was extraordinary when a group of wildlife enthusiasts on a kayak trip along the Baja coast in Mexico spotted two oarfish swimming along the shallows of a local beach.
The creatures are found normally at depth between 1,500-3,300 feet beneath the surface of the water. The huge fishes are harmless to humans as they only eat tiny plankton and don't have teeth.
"Oarfish have shiny, silvery bodies, bright red crests on their heads... In 2001, divers inspecting a navy buoy in the Bahamas were the first to videotape a five-foot oarfish in the water," the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration wrote on its Web site.
The species also have variety of names such as ribbonfish (for their slender bodies), roosterfish, or the King of Herrings.
"Deep-sea fish living near the sea bottom are more sensitive to the movements of active faults than those near the surface of the sea.," Kiyoshi Wadatsumi, director of the non-profit earthquake prediction research organization e-PISCO, told the Japan Times after numerous oarfish came near the Japanese coast in 2010, according to Latin Post.
The oarfish sighting happened after recent quakes around Los Angeles.
The video was recorded in early March by the researchers from the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.
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