[Sabertooth]

More on oarfish...

The scientific name is Regalecus glesne. The first oarfish found was in 1771 when a Danish man found one lying along the shore. Some people think that the tales of sea serpents were really oarfish.

The oarfish swims with its dorsal fin, not its entire body. We know this because one diver has actually seen the oarfish alive! Most oarfish are seen dead because they live so deep in the ocean and they only come to the surface when they are sick or injured or when there is seismic activity on the ocean floor. Like volcanoes. The oarfish floats to the top and the pressure is so strong that the oarfish cannot swim back down, so it dies.

The oarfish is found worldwide, in both tropical and warm climates. It lives between 700 and 3000 feet deep in the ocean. It can survive with only half of its body left! It eats shrimp off the ocean floor and scientists say it is harmless.

In 1996 Navy Seals found a 25-foot oarfish in California and a Colorado man, snorkeling in Baja, Mexico, ran in to an 18-foot oarfish!

Photos of Oarfish Coming Ashore in the Sea of Cortez

Underwater pic of Oarfish propulsion by means of an undulating dorsal fin

[Shermy]

Great post Sabertooth.

[ASA Vet]

The photo I posted at #14 was the Oar Fish found by our Seals in California in 96.
The issue date of the Navy Publication "All Hands" was April 97.

I'm under the strict orders of Mrs ASA Vet to not tell
our Thai & Lao friends that the photo they display
in their homes of the "Naga Queen" is a fake.

[Grampa Dave]

Great photos and thanks for the input.

A few years ago my son was fly fishing off the coast of Baja. He had a heavy duty saltwater fly rod and a new Tibor heavy duty reel. They had been hooking and landing some big Dorado. He had released a couple of nice Marlin.

He had a strike and never saw what hit. The fish was about 2/3's into his backing before he knew it. He got the rod into his belt, sat down and really stuck the rod hard on a parallel pump to try and bring the fish up and stop his run.

He never saw the fish, it burnt up the brake pads on his new Tibor reel, and broke off about 8-10 inches on his heavy duty fly rod. The fish broke off a 50# test bimini tippet.

He, his Mexican guide and his buddies on the boat were stunned. They still don't know what the fish was.

I wonder if this creature was it?