A rare oarfish that is said to predict “something bad is going to happen” has washed up on a beach.
Oarfish are often interpreted as a bad omen when seen outside of their natural habitat – the depths of the ocean.
The sea creature was discovered by bathers on 10 February and has sparked worries online.
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A video of the fish appearing on the beach has over nine million views on Instagram so far, as reported by Need To Know.
In the video, a man wearing swim shorts goes up to a silver creature with its translucent orange fins to rescue it.
The oarfish, known in Japanese mythology as Ryūgū no tsukai – or “messenger of the Sea God” – has historically been linked to anticipating catastrophic events such as earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis and cyclones.
It is difficult to study due to its normal habitat deep in the sea.
This particular oarfish was found on the coast of Playa Quemada on the Canary Islands.
The post on social media was captioned: “A rare Oarfish came ashore.”
It has gained over 267,000 likes and 5,000 comments.
Ahmed said: “Something bad is going to happen.”
Jen commented: “They show up before natural disasters.”
Meriah wrote: “Usually, it means that an earthquake is coming when it appears to the surface of the water.”
Senuka added: “Bro doesn’t know what’s coming.”
Someone else said: “Put that back and run, may be a tsunami coming.”
Zaria commented: “PUT IT BACK.”
