As if there’s not enough to worry about in the year 2025, it’s time to make room in your stable of fears for the “doomsday fish.”
The Guardian reports that the rarely seen oarfish has been spotted on the coast of Tasmania. While seeing an oarfish, which can grow up to 8 meters long, is exciting for the marine wildlife community, legend has it that they are harbingers of disaster, thus the “doomsday fish” nickname.
While we wait for our inevitable demise, you can learn more about the oarfish from marine ecologist Neville Barrett, who tells The Guardian that its sighting is “exceptionally unusual” since it lives in the open ocean at about 150 to 500 meters deep.
“We’re just not out there,” Barrett says. “We’re not looking, we’re not diving, we’re not even fishing in that part of the ocean.”
We feel better already.