A pair of American tourists had a ‘one-in-a-billion chance’ encounter with a rare sea creature, said to be a sign of imminent disaster.
Monica Pittenger and her sister, Katie, were on a beach in Mexico‘s Cabo San Lucas last month when they spotted two massive oarfish washing ashore, to the shock of everyone in the area.
Oarfish, also known as sea serpents, have been referred to in Japanese folklore as ‘Doomsday fish’ because they are said to be the messengers from the sea god’s palace.
The ancient belief cautions that when a Doomsday fish washes ashore, it is a warning sign of impending cataclysms, such as deadly earthquakes or tsunamis.
Seeing two oarfish at the same time is considered almost unheard of because the species lives in the deep ocean, typically at depths greater than 3,000 feet in the so-called ‘Twilight zone’ – one of the least explored parts of the planet.
In fact, a 2018 study published in the Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences had found that there were only 19 oarfish strandings or sightings along the California coast over the last century.
Both of the roughly 30-foot-long creatures Pittenger and her sister saw were still alive and flapped like a long, shimmering ribbon on the sandy shore as confused beachgoers looked on.
Despite not knowing what the serpents were at first, Pittenger recorded as her sister leaped in to help the animals get back into the water and swim away before dying on shore.
Tourists in Mexico’s Cabo San Lucas witnessed two oarfish wash ashore in late February 2026, triggering fears from folklore that a disaster is coming
The oarfish legend dates back to at least the 17th century in Japan, with its rare appearances interpreted as warnings from mythical deities.
One example, in modern times, cited the appearance of nearly two dozen Doomsday fish washing ashore just months before the magnitude 9.1 megaearthquake near Japan’s Tōhoku region in 2011.
The historic quake triggered a massive tsunami that killed nearly 20,000 people.
Other instances include oarfish sightings before a 2017 earthquake in the Philippines and smaller events in Tasmania, India and California in recent years.
Pittenger told the YouTube channel We Love Animals: ‘It was something out of like a fiction movie. I had never seen anything like it before.’
The woman and her sister were relaxing at the popular vacation spot when they spotted something strange flashing brightly in the shallow waves from a distance.
As they got closer, Pittenger said they realized it was a massive, otherworldly creature. Then, they saw a second one nearby, struggling just like the first.
The two huge oarfish both had long, silvery, ribbon-like bodies with a wavy red sail along their backs. Although neither appeared to be severely injured, they were clearly in distress and trying desperately to get back into deeper water.
Doomsday fish, also known as oarfish and sea serpents, typically swim 3,000 feet below the ocean surface, making sightings on shore rare (Stock Image)
My sister, she just cannot stand anything in pain. She throws me her phone, her drink and her bag. She’s like, “Hold this,” and she’s just diving on in. I think a lot of people were very hesitant because nobody really knew what it was,’ Pittenger said in an interview posted on March 4.
The Prosper, Texas resident kept recording as Katie and others carefully pushed the first oarfish back into the ocean as it continued to gasp for water.
Beachgoers then helped the second stranded Doomsday fish back into the water, where they both started swimming again and quickly disappeared.
The giant creatures were longer than the five people who were seen on video standing shoulder to shoulder, helping to return them to the ocean. It was also nearly two feet in height, which is typical for a normal oarfish.
An adult oarfish can grow to be approximately 36 feet long and weigh close to 600 pounds.
‘When we realized how rare it was, it was a pretty cool experience, but very surreal. From what we’ve researched, to see two was like one in a billion chance,’ Pittenger explained.
Normally, Doomsday fish only wash up on beaches when they are sick, injured, or dying, making the latest sightings a true mystery.
