An oarfish, a super rare creature commonly referred to as the “doomsday fish,” washed ashore on a beach in Mexico, leaving beachgoers stunned.

On a sunlit beach in Lanzarote, Canary Islands, a silvery ribbon of a fish washed ashore on February 10, 2025, catching the eyes of startled beachgoers. This was no ordinary catch. It was an oarfish — known in Japanese lore as the “Messenger of the Sea God” — a creature of the deep that rarely graces the surface.

National Geographic explained how the scientists who spotted this anglerfish — also referred to as the “black seadevil” for its monstrous appearance — were ecstatic to observe it swimming toward the ocean’s surface, as it was a phenomenon that no one had ever documented before.

A rare creature nicknamed the “doomsday fish” was spotted way outside its usual stomping waters, sending onlookers into a spiral of existential dread. Earlier this month, a rare and glimmering oarfish was spotted along the shores of Baja California Sur in Mexico.