Two Rare ‘Doomsday Fish’ Washed Ashore on the Same Beach in Mexico — Here’s What Actually Happened
Two oarfish — deep-sea creatures that normally live nearly two-thirds of a mile below the ocean surface — washed into shallow water near Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, and video of the bizarre encounter quickly spread online.
Monica Pittenger posted footage of the sighting on Instagram on March 4, in collaboration with the social media account We Love Animals. The video shows beachgoers gathering around the strange, elongated fish as they lie near the shoreline — one farther up on the sand and the other partially submerged in shallow water.
Pittenger described first spotting the animals from a distance. “We saw something in the distance. It was flashing, and it was really bright,” she said in the video.
The initial confusion was total. “And when we saw them up close, it was like nothing we’ve seen before, so we were like, ‘This can’t be real,’” she said.
Most bystanders hung back, but Pittenger’s sister took action. “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. Her sister then pushed the first oarfish back into the water.
Pittenger noted the hesitation from others made sense. “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.”
After returning the first fish to the ocean, the group continued walking down the beach and found a second oarfish, which Pittenger’s sister also guided back toward deeper water.
“It was like something out of a fiction movie. I had never seen anything like it before. I just remember thinking, Is this real?” Pittenger said.
What Oarfish Are and Why This Sighting is Unusual
Oarfish are deep-sea fish that typically inhabit the mesopelagic zone at depths of around 1,000 meters — about 3,280 feet — according to the Florida Museum of Natural History. They almost never appear near shore.
Two strandings in the same location are considered unusual. The video description on Pittenger’s post noted that seeing even one oarfish near shore is rare and that spotting two in the same place is highly unusual.
Their appearance — elongated, silver, with a flowing red dorsal fin — looks genuinely alien compared to any fish you’d expect to see from a beach. That strangeness has fed centuries of myth.
The ‘Doomsday Fish’ Nickname
Oarfish have historically been linked in folklore to 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 backstory earned oarfish the nickname “doomsday fish,” and it’s the kind of detail that spreads fast on social media whenever one shows up.
But the scientific picture is clear. According to Surfer Magazine, scientists have found no evidence that oarfish sightings predict natural disasters. The outlet also reported that no seismic activity followed the sighting in Cabo San Lucas.
The pattern plays out like this: oarfish washes ashore, folklore resurfaces online, people worry briefly, and nothing happens. The gap between the legend and the data is wide.
If You Ever Encounter One
Oarfish strandings do happen, though infrequently. That long, silvery, ribbon-shaped body with a bright red dorsal crest running along the top is the giveaway.
The response Pittenger’s group chose — gently pushing the fish back toward deeper water — aligned with what the situation called for. People on the beach who held back did so because they couldn’t identify the species, which is a reasonable reaction to an unknown marine animal
Production of this article included the use of AI. It was reviewed and edited by a team of content specialists. .
