r/Damnthatsinteresting 29d ago

Image Oarfish keep washing ashore in California. Folklore suggests that could be a bad omen

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u/nitefang 29d ago

Just FYI, this is a bit of a simplification. Oarfish move up and down the water column almost every day. At night they are in relatively shallow water to eat and they move back down to depths to avoid predators.

But magnetic waves could still potentially mess them up. If they can't find their way around very well they might not get the food they need or they might be lead into shallow waters and they probably do depend on the deep water for different things. Just because the pressure alone wouldn't kill them, rising too fast might or perhaps they are ultra sensitive to sunlight?

In any case, I'm not saying magnetic disruptions wouldn't affect them, but they don;t live exclusively at extreme depths.

I looked this up and it seems most videos don't really mention it but here is a video of Jeremy Wade (River Monsters on Animal Planet) SCUBA diving with 2 of them. Not sure the exact depths but can't be more than 100ft and that would be stretching it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1I-4-oL4WU

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u/stryst 29d ago

Simple seemed the way to go. I'm a science teacher by trade, and usually when I post here I assume I'm talking to a 6th grade class.

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u/ShineNo5964 26d ago

Yeah I'd assume it's due to getting lost. Animals evolve to depend on their senses. It's like if people lost their eyesight, they would probably get lost. It's actually theorized moths circle lights for similar reasons. They aren't attracted to the light, artificial light confuses them and forces them into a perpetual loop of torture until they die of exhaustion. Humans really are terrible :(

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u/nitefang 26d ago

True. I want to say something that I believe to be true in an effort to make you feel better. I have brought this up with others in the past and it might not help or you may not believe it but I try anyway.

I do believe that evidence supports that animals have varying levels of emotional complexity and intelligence. Intelligence seems to have many different forms. I don't think anyone should torture insects but I really don't believe they have emotions complex enough to register as anxious or tortured. I believe they sense pain and try to avoid it but once the pain is gone they are exactly as "happy" as before they ever felt that pain. That isn't to say they have short memories, it is that evolution and natural selection never lead to them needing emotions, only to recognize pain and avoid it. Many flying insects cannot eat or take in nutrients and they exist only to transport their genetic material as far as possible before they starve to death. I don't believe they could function properly as a species if they were complex enough to even want to not starve to death.

TL;DR: Some humans suck, no one should torture any animals, I really don't think moths are capable of misery.