A rare deep‑sea fish often linked to impending doom was saved after washing up on a Co Clare beach this week.
The oarfish, a long, ribbon‑like creature, was found on Tuesday evening on Fanore beach by a group of Brazilian visitors out enjoying the sunset.
Guilherme Dantas de Oliveira (24), who lives in Gort, Co Galway, said he and a friend were running on the empty beach and decided to put their feet in the water to check the temperature.
They looked into the water and “saw something shining very brightly” that appeared to be stuck, he said.
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They first thought it might be a “piece of plastic”, but on closer inspection realised it was a fish, some 2.5m in length and with “red parts” they had never seen before.
The friends feared it might be an electric eel and were reluctant to touch it. “We didn’t know if it would shock us or not. It was kind of gelatinous. But we kept touching it and it was still alive, moving,” de Oliveira said.
Beatriz Oliveira de Souza (34), who was filming the scene, said she was fascinated by the “beautiful” fish and her only goal was to save it.
“We joked and gave the fish a name,” she said. “There’s that movie, Saving Private Ryan. It’s the Saving of the Eel Ryan.”
De Oliveira added: “The fish couldn’t get into the water because it’s a deepwater fish. It doesn’t swim horizontally, it swims vertically. So it didn’t have any strength ... and the tide was very strong. So we tried to drag it into the water.”
De Souza said the weak fish managed to start swimming slowly while the friends cheered: “Go Ryan, go. Go Ryan, go. Be free.”
Ryan the oarfish has not been seen on the shore since, but videos of the rescue posted on social media have received thousands of views, many noting the species having links in some cultures to doomsday. “It’s not an eel. Ryan came to bring the end of the world,” said one commenter.
Oarfish can grow to several metres in length and live in deep waters, far from the shore. The myth is associated with a belief that seeing one near the sea surface or washed ashore is a sign that an earthquake, tsunami or other disaster is coming. In Japan, it is known as the “messenger from the sea god’s palace” due to its apocalyptic reputation.
Oarfish strandings are extremely rare in Ireland, with Declan Quigley, biologist with the Sea‑Fisheries Protection Authority, saying there was “only one confirmed stranding from Irish waters” which was in the Waterford estuary in 2020.
“There are only 60 records in Europe since 1740,” he said. “It’s a very exciting find, and the fact it was alive and it was in really good condition, suggests that it had recently stranded.”
Despite the negative myths about the fish, the Brazilian friends were delighted to have helped Ryan during his time of need.
“We said if it were a bad message, there would be no more danger because we returned it to the sea,” said De Souza.
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