Experts dismissed as false the claim of Facebook page The Watchmen’s Earth and Space connection that the beaching of tons of “nervous” fish in Maasim, Sarangani was driven by an unknown phenomenon.
In a post on January 7, the popular page stated: “Ok Philippines on the matter of the massive amount of fish in Sarangani. It could either be a migration or something else is driving them from below. They look very nervous on the videos.”
On January 9 dawn, or two days after the schools of fish invaded the coast of Maasim, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology recorded a Magnitude 6.7 earthquake that struck 154 kilometers southeast of Sarangani town in Davao Occidental, popularly called Balut Island.
Some Facebook pages and users believed the swarming of the huge volume of the fish known locally as “lupoy” (juvenile sardines) could trigger a disaster, citing a similar incident in Japan where people connected it to a powerful earthquake that killed at least 200 people on January 1.
Davao Portal wrote: “Yesterday, we posted about that swarm of a large number of fish in Sarangani, stating it’s an unusual phenomenon. Today, a 7.1 magnitude earthquake was recorded off Sarangani. Were the two events connected? We don’t know. But they say creatures like fish, birds are good at detecting the slightest seismic waves.” As of January 19, Davao Portal’s post has at least 829 shares, at least 190 reactions, and 61 comments.
OFW Premiere Magazine posted an image of the fish swarm and accompanied it with texts saying “7.1 Magnitude earthquake.”
But Maybelle Fortaleza, a biologist from the University of the Philippines-Mindanao who specializes in fisheries, belied the beaching of the lupoys in the village of Tinoto and the earthquake were connected, noting what happened was caused by upwelling.
According to Fortaleza, the upwelling that occurred at the start of the year was “nothing new.”
“Upwellings are well-documented in literature,” Fortaleza said, referring to scientific studies published about upwelling events and its accompanying fish galore.
According to studies, upwellings happen not only in the Philippine coasts but also in areas such as Indonesia and other temperate regions.
Upwelling occurs when cold water from the seabed rises towards the surface, bringing with it nutrients that small fish species such as sardines feed on, Fortaleza explained.
The phenomenon causes an “overload” of larvae and smaller fish emerging to the ocean surface, she added.
“If you ask the fisherfolk, they will tell you themselves that this happens occasionally,” Fortaleza said.
Cirilo Lagnason, chief of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources 12’s Protected Area Management Office – Sarangani Bay Protected Seascape, was onsite when the upwelling happened in Maasim.
Just like Fortaleza, Lagnason noted that upwellings have been happening in Mindanao in places like Dapitan, Dipolog, and Zamboanga.
Lagnason said the public must not worry about upwelling as this is a natural phenomenon with scientific explanations.
Both experts spoke separately with MindaNews via Zoom.
Repeat disinformation offender
The Earth and Space Watchmen Facebook Page has been fact-checked several times by fact checkers from various countries.
In the Philippines, Rappler.com has conducted at least two fact checks of the page.
One of the page’s claims is the direct connection between solar activity and earthquakes. One often repeated concept across different materials on the Facebook page is the idea of a Blot Echo Wind Map, which purportedly predicts earthquakes.
Another claim it made was that of lava flowing through fissures around the Taal Volcano.
The Times of Malta has also fact-checked the page for claiming that the energy from a 2023 earthquake in Turkey would make its way to Malta.
To date, the page has one million followers and 863k Likes.
Its misleading post about the schools of fish beaching in Maasim town has gathered at least 10k reactions, 1,100 comments and at least 2,000 shares on Facebook.
As with all our other reports, MindaNews welcomes leads or suggestions from the public to potential fact-check stories.
MindaNews is a verified signatory to the Code of Principles of the International Fact-Checking Network. (Yas D. Ocampo / MindaNews)
