A mountain hairtail, considered a "prediction of a major earthquake," has been discovered off the coast of California in the United States, making headlines.
According to USA Today on the 14th (local time), a mountain hairtail was found dead last week on the beach of Encinitiators Grandview, a resort outside San Diego, California.
This mountain hairtail has reached a length of 2.9m. Currently, he has been transferred to the Scripps Marine Laboratory at the University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego) for an autopsy.
Earlier on August 10, a mountain hairtail was found dead near the coast of La Jolla Cove, California.
This is the 21st extremely rare discovery of mountain hairtail on California beaches since 1901. In particular, only 21 mountain hairtails were found in 123 years, but two were found in a row in three months, drawing keen attention.
The rise of mountain hairtail, a deep-sea fish species that lives between 200m and 1,000m deep, is often considered a precursor to earthquakes and tsunamis. Although there are records that mountain hairtail was found just before the Great East Japan Earthquake and California Earthquake, experts say there is no scientific basis for the claim that the mountain hairtail and the earthquake are related.
Ben Prebble, a researcher at Scripps Marine Research Institute, said, "Although we do not know the clear reason for the death of the mountain hairtail, several variables such as changes in the marine environment, population growth, and El Niño and La Niña can play a role."
Reporter Lee Yu Na from Digital News Team.
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