ShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberTwo rare deep-sea oarfish—often nicknamed "doomsday fish"—have washed up in the shallows of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
In a video first posted on Instagram by Monica Pittenger, the long, ribbon-like fish can be seen floundering on the beach.
Oarfish are elusive, ribbon-like deep-sea fish that typically inhabit great depths and are seldom seen near the surface, making two strandings in the same location highly unusual and of public interest, according to the magazine Surfer.
The fish have long been linked in folklore to earthquakes and tsunamis, but scientists have found no evidence that such sightings predict natural disasters. According to Surfer, no seismic activity followed the sighting.
Pittenger, in collaboration with the account We Love Animals, posted the clip on March 4, showing people on the beach surrounding one of the fish—the one that was further onshore—while the other poked out from the shallow water a short distance away.
One of the women bent down and began pushing the creature back into the sea, and several onlookers joined in.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVb8XhegtM2/
Pittenger said in the video that she and others in her party "saw something in the distance. It was flashing, and it was really bright."
"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 added.
Pittenger said her sister "cannot stand anything in pain" and reacted quickly, along with a little girl, to get the fish back into the water.
"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 continued.
"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.
After pushing the first fish back into the sea, the group began walking back down the beach and spotted the other fish, which Pittenger's sister also pushed further into the water.
The mesopelagic-dwelling species is usually found around 1,000 meters (about 3,280 feet) deep, according to Surfer.
Monica Pittenger said in the video: "It was like something out of a fiction movie. I had never seen anything like it before. I just remember thinking, Is this real?"
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