Is this fish capable of predicting earthquakes?
Last night, I was jolted out of sleep by an earthquake. Although there have been several in and around Los Angeles during the past few weeks, this was the first one that I've felt in awhile, and was especially "jolting" because I was asleep at the time.
We don't have warnings, as such, about earthquakes. Seismologists and other scientists are trying to figure out a way to predict these events, but without much success thus far. If only they knew my angel fish!
My aquarium has been in continuous use by any number of tropical, freshwater fish, for sixteen years. My current group of swimmers includes four very large angel fish and one smaller one. And they seem to know...
They know when I'm up and about in the morning and wait at the front of the tank, frantically finning, for food. They follow me to the side of the tank as I prepare to walk out the front door. And, they move about in a frenzied sort of way sometimes a few minutes, sometimes a few hours before an earthquake. Vibrations in the water pre-quake? Dis-equilibrium caused by tiny tremors before the bigger one? I don't know. But last night was an example of their uncanny activity...
Late afternoon, the fish were milling about in a close group. It wasn't dinner time, there were no predators, and there was no external activity to trigger the movement. Even at lights-out, the fish were edgy. And then...the quake.
I wonder if I could convince seismologists to come over with their ultra-sophisticated equipment and complex calculations and set up shop near my fishtank? It could get crowded. But, then again, it could help...
We don't have warnings, as such, about earthquakes. Seismologists and other scientists are trying to figure out a way to predict these events, but without much success thus far. If only they knew my angel fish!
My aquarium has been in continuous use by any number of tropical, freshwater fish, for sixteen years. My current group of swimmers includes four very large angel fish and one smaller one. And they seem to know...
They know when I'm up and about in the morning and wait at the front of the tank, frantically finning, for food. They follow me to the side of the tank as I prepare to walk out the front door. And, they move about in a frenzied sort of way sometimes a few minutes, sometimes a few hours before an earthquake. Vibrations in the water pre-quake? Dis-equilibrium caused by tiny tremors before the bigger one? I don't know. But last night was an example of their uncanny activity...
Late afternoon, the fish were milling about in a close group. It wasn't dinner time, there were no predators, and there was no external activity to trigger the movement. Even at lights-out, the fish were edgy. And then...the quake.
I wonder if I could convince seismologists to come over with their ultra-sophisticated equipment and complex calculations and set up shop near my fishtank? It could get crowded. But, then again, it could help...