Two Rare ‘Doomsday Fish’ Washed Up on a Beach in Cabo San Lucas—Here’s What Scientists Say
Two rare oarfish, often called 'doomsday fish,' appeared near the shore in Cabo San Lucas.
Two deep-sea oarfish — nicknamed “doomsday fish” for their folkloric ties to earthquakes — washed up near the shoreline in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, stunning beachgoers and sparking online fascination, though scientists say there is no cause for alarm.
The unusual sighting was captured on video and posted on Instagram on March 4 by Monica Pittenger, whose footage shows the long, ribbon-like fish near the shore as crowds gathered around them. The video was shared in collaboration with the social media account We Love Animals.
Pittenger said she and others first spotted the animals from a distance. “We saw something in the distance. It was flashing, and it was really bright,” she said in the video.
When the group moved closer, the discovery left them stunned. “And when we saw them up close, it was like nothing we’ve seen before, so we were like, ‘This can’t be real,’” Pittenger said.
The video shows one oarfish farther up on the beach while the other remained partially in shallow water nearby. Several people began pushing the fish back toward the ocean, though not without hesitation.
Pittenger said people were reluctant to approach because they did not recognize the species. “I think a lot of people were very hesitant because nobody really knew what it was. It’s not every day that you see that. And I mean, I don’t blame them,” she said.
Pittenger’s sister jumped in
While many onlookers stood back, Pittenger’s sister wasted no time. She jumped in to push the first oarfish back into the water while others watched from a safe distance.
“Just watching all these men standing around, and she throws me her phone and her drink and her bag, and she’s like, ‘Hold this,’” Pittenger recounted.
After returning the first fish to the ocean, the group continued walking down the beach — only to discover a second oarfish in a similar predicament. Pittenger’s sister stepped in again, pushing the second fish back toward deeper water.
Pittenger described the entire encounter as surreal. “It was like something out of a fiction movie. I had never seen anything like it before. I just remember thinking, Is this real?” she said.
What makes oarfish so rare
These deep-sea fish typically live in the mesopelagic zone at depths of around 1,000 meters (about 3,280 feet), according to the Florida Museum of Natural History. Their long, ribbon-like bodies make them one of the ocean’s more striking and mysterious inhabitants.
Because oarfish inhabit deep water and are rarely seen near the surface, two strandings in the same location are considered unusual. The video description accompanying Pittenger’s post noted that seeing even one oarfish near shore is rare and that spotting two in the same place is highly unusual.
Why they’re called ‘doomsday fish’
Oarfish carry a dramatic nickname thanks to a long history of association in folklore with earthquakes and tsunamis.
According to Ocean Conservancy, “The legend is that if you see an oarfish, it is a warning sign from higher powers that disasters such as earthquakes are soon to occur…before Japan’s 2011 earthquake (one of the most catastrophic in history) a total of 20 oarfish washed ashore.”
That folklore has given oarfish sightings an ominous edge in popular culture. Anytime one of these rarely seen deep-sea creatures surfaces, speculation about what it might signal tends to follow.
Scientists see no link to disasters
Despite the dramatic mythology, the scientific community has not found a connection between oarfish strandings and natural disasters.
Scientists have found no evidence that oarfish sightings predict earthquakes or other seismic events, according to Surfer Magazine. The outlet reported that no seismic activity followed the sighting in Cabo San Lucas.
So while the nickname “doomsday fish” makes for a compelling headline, the actual science offers a far less dramatic conclusion: oarfish occasionally end up in shallow water, and their presence does not appear to be a harbinger of anything catastrophic.
A once-in-a-lifetime encounter
For Pittenger and her sister, coming face to face with not one but two of these elusive deep-sea creatures — and helping return them to the ocean — made for a story almost too remarkable to believe.
These are animals that spend their lives thousands of feet below the ocean’s surface, far from human eyes. When they do appear near shore, the sightings generate significant attention precisely because they are so uncommon.
Whether the oarfish survived after being returned to the water remains unclear from the video. But the footage offers a rare glimpse of one of the ocean’s most mysterious species.
Conversation
All comments are subject to our Community Guidelines. Woman's World does not endorse the opinions and views shared by our readers in our comment sections. Our comments section is a place where readers can engage in healthy, productive, lively, and respectful discussions. Offensive language, hate speech, personal attacks, and/or defamatory statements are not permitted. Advertising or spam is also prohibited.
