‘Earthquake incoming?’ 'Doomsday fish' spotted on Mexico beach sparks concerns
An oarfish, known as a ‘doomsday fish’, was found on the Playa El Quemado beach in Baja California Sur. A video of the fish has gone viral, sparking concerns.
An oarfish, which is known as a ‘doomsday fish’, was spotted in Mexico earlier this month. A group of beachgoers found the fish swimming on the Playa El Quemado beach in Baja California Sur on Feb.9. A video shared on social media show the bright-colored fish washing onto the shores of the beach.
"That's an oarfish. Holy sh--, they've almost never been seen live," one man is heard saying. “Nobody's gonna believe this.”
Speaking to Storyful, Robert Hayes, the beachgoer who shot the video, said the oarfish "swam straight at us, lifting its head above the water about two inches."
“We redirected it three times out to the water, but it came back each time," he added.
Reactions to the video -
The video soon went viral on social media, sparking concerns among netizens.
“What is going on in the bottom of the ocean that has all these deep sea fish suddenly surfacing?” one person asked.
“Huge earthquake incoming. These deep sea fish are probably trying to escape what might be an underwater fissure spewing toxic gases,” another wrote.
A third person commented, “Lots of deep-sea creatures making it up to the surface these days. What do these omens portend?”
All about the oarfish -
Oarfish primarily reside in the deep sea and are very rarely seen on the surface.
"If one is spotted close to the surface, it typically indicates that the creature is sick, dying or at least disoriented," Ocean Conservancy explained on its website.
The website adds that it is known as the "doomsday fish" as legend states that spotting one may be “a warning sign from higher powers that disasters such as earthquakes are soon to occur.”
At least 20 oarfish appeared on Japanese beaches in 2011, months before the country experienced the strongest earthquake in its recorded history. The 9.1 earthquake struck off the northeast coast of Honshu, killing over 18,000 people.