Concern has been sparked after several 'doomsday' fish were spotted on a shore miles from their natural habitat.
Two of the rarely-seen deep-sea oarfish were recently spotted on the shore of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, sparking concern due to the ancient folklore that is associated with them.
Japanese tradition suggests that the fish, which can grow up to 30 feet long, are sent as messengers from the sea gods ahead of impending disasters, because the world clearly doesn't have enough going on right now.
While there are plenty of things to fear in the ocean, whether it be bloodthirsty sharks or poisonous jellyfish, few have the reputation of the massive oarfish when it comes to real-world events.
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There are a lot of dangerous things that can wash up on a beach, with many unsuspecting photographers capturing moments which later proved to be near-death experiences, but while the oarfish itself is harmless despite its gigantic size, it does bring bad omens with it.
Although we're all worried about the potential for WW3 due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, tradition suggests that these fish tend to focus on natural disasters such as earthquakes or tsunamis.
Fortunately, we might well avoid the disaster after some brave tourists teamed up to lift the fish back into the sea, although they will have to travel a fair way to get back to their natural habitat in the deep sea.
Naturally, with the mythology that is associated with the fish, several social media users voiced their concern about what seeing two of them together might mean.
One X user wrote: "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?"
A description of the video on YouTube read: “Just as they finished helping the first one, they spotted another oarfish near the shore. Seeing even one is extremely rare. Seeing two in the same place is almost unheard of.
“Afterward, they learned there have only been a handful of sightings along that coastline over the past few hundred years.”
Another X user was also in awe of the chances of the event: "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."
Wholesome chaos sounds far better than what we have going on in the rest of the world, so hopefully these two oarfish appearing doesn't turn out to be a sign of another disaster.
James Moorhouse