Two doomsday fish seen on the same beach right before Iran war started - An ominous sign?
Just before the Iran war started, two doomsday fish were seen on a beach in Mexico. They were still alive when two American sisters spotted them. This is the first sighting in 2026 after six oarfish made an appearance in the year 2025.
Two oarfish wash ashore in Mexico
Tourists in Mexico were shocked to see not one, but two doomsday fish on a beach in Cabo San Lucas, last month. The marine creature resembles a sea serpent and is known to live in deep water, rarely coming to the surface. However, whenever it surfaces, the sighting is linked to bad omens in Japanese folklore. The two 30-foot oarfish were seen in February, and soon after the Iran war began.
Doomsday fish linked to earthquakes and tsunamis
American tourists Monica Pittenger and her sister, Katie, were the first to come across the doomsday fish. They were shocked to see that two of them had washed ashore still alive. The sisters tried getting them back into the water, but they died. Every time the fish is seen outside the ocean, believers fear it will bring disaster. Their sightings have often been linked to earthquakes and tsunamis, but this time, they are being linked to a larger destruction.
Seeing two oarfish together is a rare occurrence
Oarfish live at depths greater than 3,000 feet in an area of the ocean that humans have hardly ever explored. Seeing them is an extremely rare occurrence, let alone having two of them pay a visit together. According to a 2018 study published in the Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences, only 19 have been observed in California over the past century.
Six doomsday fish were seen in 2025
Despite how rare they can be, the year 2025 had a few doomsday fish sightings, with at least six of them washing ashore. The first sighting came in February, also in Mexico, on the Baja California Sur coast. In May, a 30-foot oarfish was caught in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The next one was seen in Australia, off Tasmania’s west coast on June 2.
Two doomsday fish were seen in India
Two of them were seen in New Zealand in June, with the first one near Dunedin in the first week, followed by the second doomsday fish in Christchurch. A second doomsday fish returned to India in October 2025. Fishermen in Tamil Nadu's Ramanathapuram district were returning from the Gulf of Mannar when they saw, among their catch, a six-kilogram oarfish.
Doomsday fish can grow up to 40 feet and more
The doomsday fish can grow up to 36 feet in length. Some people even claim to have seen 56-foot-long oarfish; however, there are no scientific records. These marine creatures live at depths of 20 metres to 200 metres, residing in the deepest and darkest zones of the ocean. They feed on krill.
Doomsday fish linked to devastation in Japanese folklore
According to Japanese folklore, the "doomsday fish" are the servants and messengers of Ryūjin, the god of the sea. They are sent to the surface to issue ominous warnings to humans about impending disasters. Tales talk of oarfish coming to the surface and warning people about epidemics, diseases and natural disasters. One such tale speaks of a 30-foot oarfish that appeared off the coast of Tsushima in April 1819. People got scared and tried to kill it, but the fish remained unmoved and warned them of a "great evil disease".
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