A doomsday fish was found on a beach in Mexico: why this long marine creature is called a harbinger of disaster

Surfers spotted a paddlefish on a Mexican beach. This long marine creature is called a doomsday fish because, according to the legend, it is a harbinger of earthquakes and other natural disasters.

The massive fish, about the length of a surfboard, had a silvery-blue body with a stunning red fin running down its back. However, the surfers noticed that its tail was damaged, writes the DailyMail.

This is the first paddlefish seen in 2025. According to the surfers who found the strange creature in the southern part of the Baja California Peninsula, the fish was still alive. So they put it on their boards and carried it back to the ocean.

"They say these fish appear when there is a very strong tsunami," said a local resident when he saw the "harbinger of disasters" on the beach.

Scientists have not proven such facts. However, one paddlefish was spotted in California a month before it was shaken by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake last year. Another 20 doomsday fish washed ashore a few months before the devastating tsunami hit Japan, killing more than 15,000 people and causing a 9.0 magnitude earthquake in March 2011.

Legend has it that paddlefish live under the Japanese islands and surface to warn people of an impending earthquake. But these creatures are found all over the world, living at depths of 200 to 1,000 meters, researchers say.

Biologists describe the paddlefish's body as having no scales and the skin as having a slimy, silvery protective coating known as guanine. Due to their shape, these creatures resemble sea snakes and are a sign of the future in Japanese mythology, where they are known as "messengers from the palace of the sea dragon god."

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