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In a startling discovery on the coastline of Cabo San Lucas in Mexico, two exceptionally rare deep-sea creatures, also known as 'doomsday fish', have been found struggling outside the water, stranded on the beach.

According to folklore, the seldom-seen deep-sea oarfish is regarded as a harbinger of ill fortune, and two such specimens being discovered together could be indicating signs of some profoundly ominous events ahead.

The elongated, ribbon-shaped fish is an elusive deep-sea creature, typically found at depths of 1,000 metres (3,280 feet) and rarely observed near the surface of the water - making two encounters with the uncommon oarfish a remarkably unusual and exceptional occurrence.

Beachgoer Monica Pittenger, working alongside the account We Love Animals, initially shared the startling video footage she captured of the incident to Instagram on March 4, 2026, in which the two deep-sea fish can be observed struggling on the beach, reports the Mirror.

In the footage, the oarfish can be witnessed washed ashore on the Mexican beach, as one of the unfortunate creatures desperately flounders outside the water.

The camera then shifts to the opposite side, where a second oarfish can be spotted, also apparently stranded between the water and the shoreline.

A crowd gradually begins to assemble around the first doomsday fish, and one of the women in the footage (subsequently identified by Monica as her sister Katie) can be observed bending down as she starts pushing the creature back into the water. Moments later, she was accompanied by additional bystanders and collectively they succeeded in pushing the deep-sea oarfish back into the ocean.

Speaking in the footage, Monica can be heard saying: "I didn't believe my eyes. It was like something out of a fiction movie. I had never seen anything like it before. I just remember thinking, is this real?! And honestly, when I saw the second one, I got a little nervous."

Monica described how she and others in her group "saw something in the distance" as she revealed "It was flashing, and it was really bright."

She said: "And when we saw them up close, it was like nothing we've seen before, so we were like, 'This can't be real.'"

Monica explained how her sister Katie "just cannot stand anything in pain" and responded to the distressing scene "super fast" to assist the creature in returning to the water. Katie was promptly aided by a young girl and eventually others participated in the rescue effort.

Monica added: "Just watching all these men standing around, and she [Katie] throws me her phone and her drink and her bag, and she's like, 'Hold this.'"

"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 successfully pushing the first oarfish back into the sea, the spontaneous rescue team reportedly proceeded towards the second fish, which was similarly helped back into the water by Katie and the group.

Concerns over the video being AI swiftly spread like wildfire (as they do in today's day and age), however, Monica confirmed the video was genuine in a comment beneath her original Instagram post, responding to people questioning the video's authenticity: "It's not AI! ! It's my video."

Oarfish can grow up to 30 feet in length and Japanese folklore suggests these deep-sea creatures are sent as messengers by the sea gods as a warning of impending doom in the form of natural disasters like tsunamis and earthquakes.

Whilst the mesopelagic-dwelling creatures have long been linked to tsunamis and earthquakes in myths, scientists have found no actual evidence their appearance, though rare, can predict natural disasters. As per Surfer, no seismic activity has followed the 'doomsday fish' sighting thus far.

The gigantic fish's reputation as a bad omen precedes its actual harmless nature, with it long being used as a symbol to predict real-world natural calamities and catastrophic disasters.

The internet has, understandably, lost its collective mind at the sighting, with one X user writing: "The ocean drops two literal harbingers of doom on the beach at Cabo, is it time to rethink that trip or just bring my doomsday kit and pretend everything is fine?"

Another social media user commented: "Seeing the 'doomsday fish' on the surface is always a chilling sight. Whether it's seismic activity or shifting ocean currents, something deep down is definitely changing. Nature is sending us a signal we shouldn't ignore."

Whilst one X User added: "Two doomsday fish washing up in quick succession may be telling us something. Especially when only a few have ever washed up over several hundred years."

Another user cheekily penned: "Two 20-30 ft oarfish basically doing a surprise beach cameo in Cabo? That's not just rare , it's statistically absurd. Normally they chill at 3,000 ft deep where it's pitch black and zero drama. People pushing them back into the water like it's a group project is wholesome chaos."