Who knew one little fish could get this much attention.
The internet has found its latest existential crisis – and this time, in the form of a deep sea monster we’ve never seen before (well, only once before).
Last week, a video went viral of a humpback anglerfish, a species that never comes anywhere close to near the surface, spotted swimming upwards off the coast of Tenerife, off the Canary Islands of Spain. This marked only the second time ever that this creature has been caught on camera alive. Pretty crazy.
@nbcnews Researchers in Spain believe they’ve possibly recorded the first-ever sighting of an adult abyssal anglerfish off the coast of Tenerife.
So normally, these guys are hanging out in total darkness, usually thousands of feet below sea level, using their little shiny lure to snag prey.
At first, like many, I just thought this was a weird, scary-looking fish, but pretty cool that it was caught on camera. But now, it seems like everyone has taken it to a deeper level, really questioning why this one anglerfish was swimming near the top of the ocean in broad daylight.
What makes it even more heartbreaking for some is how small the fish was: It’s small enough to fit into the palm of your hand.
@seona88 She was so tiny, she could fit in the palm of our hand. 😮🤯 #darknesstolight #inspiring #anglerfish #fascinating #melanocetusjohnsonii #deepsea #oceanlife #warrior #goddess #smallbutmighty
The phrases that have as taken over TikTok and X are “For my last day, I will see the sun” and “She was born in darkness and died covered in light.” Someone, somewhere, posted these in response to the news, and they have quickly become the official taglines of whatever’s going on here.
All of a sudden little anglerfish is like a Disney character, a messenger from the depths of the ocean and a hero making one final journey toward the light before it inevitably passed away a few hours later. These posts are everywhere.
@healingwithmarieella Why is a fish making me this emotional????? 😔 #anglerfish #blackdevilangler #blackdevilanglerfish #marinelife #oceanlife #angler #blackdevil #fish #fyp #foryoupage❤️❤️
@belleperez_ So so beautiful but so fckn sad I’m too fragile for this today!! Illustration credit: @sydney :/ #anglerfish #hopecore #sadcore
@apathunbounded
And some are even taking it an ever further step, like country singer Ashley Cooke, wondering if this has to do with some world-ending second-coming sort of deal
@theashleycooke please tell me you guys saw this fish video too
But really…why was it near the surface in the first place?
And to make matters even more strange, another type of rare deep-sea anglerfish washed up on the beach earlier this week in Carlsbad, California. The Pacific footballfish was found by a fisherman at South Ponto State Beach on Wednesday, one of only a few dozen of the species that have been spotted and are now kept in labs around the world. But this one’s not quite as rare, because at least seven of these deep-sea creatures have washed up on the west coast in the past few years.
Still, that begs the question, why are these fish that generally only reside in the depths of the ocean making their way towards shallow waters?
Scientists don’t really seem to know. Best guess so far is that it has to do something with El Niño, the climate pattern that disrupts normal ocean temperatures, and that some deep-sea creatures could get disoriented or forced upward. But like always, there are lots of theories for us to think on and to keep us entertained.
As lovely and inspirational as it sounds, I don’t think the fish knowingly swam up to the sun because he knew he was on his deathbed. But what do I know, or what does anyone know? They could be as smart as dolphins. For now, I will just keep reading the theories, and laughing about the uproar that this little guy has caused.
This damn anglerfish has this empath in a chokehold 😭 pic.twitter.com/Gu3DeRviBF
— kirsti ✨ (@kirstilynn11) February 14, 2025
It’s really upsetting that people keep calling the anglerfish ugly. She was just a girl who wanted to see the sun. pic.twitter.com/pDDEQhtSLQ
— madame blueberry 🫐 (@Maddie_Jones515) February 11, 2025
the anglerfish that swam to the surface passing away has caused me a certain level of depression that i’ve never felt before in my life
cut the cameras, i’m being so serious. pic.twitter.com/0MFDp9okLM— TOBY’S XYMPHONY꩜ .ᐟ 🍉 (@tackytobi) February 8, 2025
why am i bawling my eyes out over an anglerfish 😭 https://t.co/G0jtqG3Xaw pic.twitter.com/dSQEkKPtfP
— shanviii (@conclushan) February 8, 2025
just found out that the anglerfish was tiny pic.twitter.com/NQBQfkavVY
— mal (@ramymoreau) February 15, 2025
anglerfish just taking a day trip to see what we got going on up here in the daylight https://t.co/5s5puzNkco pic.twitter.com/DgFGDpZeqh
— BECKNORA (2024) dir. Sean Beckyer (@beckyvenus) February 7, 2025
