With oceans making up 70% of Planet Earth, to date, with AI, modern technology, and hundreds of marine job descriptions, only 20% of the oceans have been discovered till 2023. New and terrifying yet mystical aqua creatures have been discovered over the decades, with a few dating back thousands of years.
Now, with the widespread global warming, Herculean coral bleaching events, and dwindling marine life due to unearthing pollution, more and more deep ocean, and deep sea creatures who must remain in the depths, not visible to mankind, are surfing up to the surface. Dead.
October 13 marked a peculiar date when The Pacific footballfish — a type of anglerfish that typically dwells in the dark depths of the ocean — was found intact at Crystal Cove State Park in Laguna Beach, acquired by People via a Facebook statement from the California park.
Here is how it went, “Guess who washed up just in time for Friday the 13th? It’s angler fish #2 at Crystal Cove State Park!” written on the social media post, “In May of 2021, the same species of angler fish, Pacific Football Fish, was found onshore by a park visitor creating quite the buzz. Two years later, the same species of fish washed up again last Friday, October 13th. What does it all mean?”
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife procured the ‘eerie-looking’ creature, which ‘ glows in the dark and has teeth resembling “pointed shards of glass,” to conduct further research in order to determine the causality behind the chronologically linked events. Crystal Cove State Park added in their post obtained by People saying that over 200 species of anglerfish roam the oceans worldwide, adding, “only females possess a long stalk on the head with bioluminescent tips used as a lure to entice prey in pitch-black water as deep as 3,000 feet!” Per the park’s statement via People, The Pacific Footballfish sport a massive mouth that can swallow prey “the size of their own body.”
The statement added more information on the mysterious creature, “Males grow about an inch long and exist only to mate with females, which can reach up to 24 inches in length, the statement continued. They “latch onto the female with their teeth and become ‘sexual parasites,’ eventually coalescing with the female until nothing is left of their form but their testes for reproduction,” adding, “Spotting an intact anglerfish is “very rare,” the park said, “it is unknown how or why these fish ended up onshore.”
Concluding their post, they added, “Seeing this strange and fascinating fish is a testament to the curious diversity of marine life lurking below the water’s surface in California’s Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), and as scientists continue to learn more about these deep sea creatures it’s important to reflect on how much is still to be learned from our wonderful and mysterious ocean!”
The Pacific footballfish discovered two years ago is being kept at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles, according to the Park obtained via People.
While the cause behind the sudden appearance of deep-sea fish is unexplained, evidence points to pollution more than any other explanation researched till now. Save water, save the planet!