Mysterious 'doomsday fish' shocks beachgoers as it approaches shallow waters
A group of beachgoers encountered an interesting-looking fish as it surfaced in shallow waters on a beach in Mexico.
The silvery, iridescent oarfish was captured on video washing onto the shores of Playa El Quemado in Baja California Sur, making a rare appearance in broad daylight.
"The fish swam straight at us, lifting its head above the water about two inches," Robert Hayes, the beachgoer who recorded the fish, told Storyful.
"We redirected it three times out to the water, but it came back each time."
The flat-bodied fish laid itself out on the beach, outside the water, before people approached the creature.
Another man in the video who identified the deep-sea species attempted to return the "flailing fish" back into the ocean before it swam right back up to shore.
"This is amazing, it's the smallest one (oarfish) I've ever seen," the man can be heard saying in the video.
Oarfish are typically located in the great depths of the ocean, ranging from 650 feet to upwards of 3,200 feet, according to the Florida Museum.
The oarfish is commonly referred to as the "doomsday fish," as some believe it "foreshadows natural disasters, such as earthquakes or tsunamis," according to the Ocean Conservancy.
Last year, Ben Frable, Scripps Oceanography Marine Vertebrate Collection manager, said in a statement that the increased spotting of oarfish off the coast may have to do with a change in the ocean conditions.
"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.
The Florida Museum reported that oarfish are only spotted on the surface of the water or in the shallow depths when they are injured or dying.
While oarfish can reach lengths of 36 feet, this particular fish in the video appeared to be on the smaller side, the Florida Museum stated.
"The long, flat, tapering body is reflective silver with a dorsal fin running the length of it that it uses to swim and turn with. Its abrupt, slightly concave profile is set with a toothless mouth ideal for filtering krill and crustaceans out of the water," Florida Museum officials wrote online.
"It is a deep-water fish that spends time floating vertically in the water column to camouflage itself, trailing the elaborate red first spines of its dorsal fin and pelvic fins."
The man in the video who identified the fish helped it move through the water.
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