A rare and eerie encounter left beachgoers in Baja California Sur has unsettled the population off the coast of Mexico as a deep-sea oarfish , sometimes called “the doomsday fish,” surfaced in the shallow waters of Playa El Quemado.
In the video, another beachgoer, familiar with the species, reacts with disbelief. He notes that it is the smallest oarfish he has ever seen, a statement that contrasts sharply with the creature’s ominous reputation. Often called the “doomsday fish” in local folklore, oarfish are believed to be harbingers of natural disasters, with their rare appearances linked to earthquakes and tsunamis. As the fish struggled in the surf, those onshore debated how best to help, but the situation remained unnerving.
SEE IT! The rarely seen deep-sea known as an ‘oarfish’ has washed ashore in Mexico!
Legend has it that the creature, known as a ‘doomsday fish,’ only surfaces from the depths of the ocean when something catastrophic is going to happen. 👀 pic.twitter.com/U5j68io7jx
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) February 18, 2025
These mysterious creatures normally reside at depths of 650 to over 3,200 feet, making any sighting at the surface highly unusual. Marine biologists have suggested that such appearances often signal distress, injury, or even impending death, writes The New York Post.
According to Japanese mythology, the serpentine plankton-eaters will purposely rise to the surface and beach themselves whenever they sense that trouble’s on the horizon.
In fact, doomsday fears ramped up during the 2011 Fukushima earthquake and tsunami when dozens of the pelagic beasts washed ashore in the two years preceding the catastrophe.
Instagram commenters seemed to believe the latest emergence was a scaly sign of the apocalypse.
“Something bad is going to happen,” fretted one, while another wrote, “They show up before natural disasters.”
“Usually, it means that an earthquake is coming when it appears on the surface of the water,” said a third.
Some scientists have speculated that changes in oceanic conditions could be forcing these deep-sea dwellers into shallower waters. Ben Frable, a marine vertebrate specialist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, has previously noted that such appearances could be early indicators of larger ecological shifts, according to Fox News.
“Many researchers have suggested this as to why deep-water fish strand on beaches. Sometimes it may be linked to broader shifts such as the El Niño and La Niña cycle but this is not always the case,” said Frable.
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Prayers for that region….