00:00The internet is currently enraptured by the poetic and tragic story of this very scary-looking fish.
00:08On February 5th, 2025, Instagram user Condric Tenerife posted footage of a black sea devil
00:13anglerfish swimming vertically up toward the surface of the sea near the coast of Spain.
00:17The caption on the video describes that the footage was taken during a shark research campaign
00:21and credits the team who captured it. The description explains that black sea devil
00:24anglerfish are typically found between 200 and 2,000 meters in depth,
00:28considered the midnight zone of the ocean, meaning that this is a rare occurrence and
00:32may be the first recording of such an incident. They write, the reason for its presence in such
00:36shallow waters is uncertain. It may be due to illness, an upwelling current, or fleeing a
00:40predator. The video is set to the eerie-sounding instrumental music from the Phantom of the Opera.
00:49The same video was shared to TikTok on February 6th by Haranatura,
00:52where it garnered a staggering 120 million views in approximately 10 days.
00:57Following the virality of the video, it was reported by the New York Times and other
01:00publications that the anglerfish died a few hours after its rise to the surface,
01:05with the team behind the video claiming it was injured, which was likely the reason it
01:08swam toward the surface to begin with. The story of the fish inspired creators across the web to
01:13make art, memes, and other sorts of reactionary content about the anglerfish who swim up from
01:18the depths, with many imagining that the fish was aiming to see the sun for the first time before
01:22dying. For example, on February 9th, TikToker GoPickUpYourBook posted a video mashing up the
01:28anglerfish video with an unrelated 2024 webcomic about an anglerfish who surfaces and dies by
01:33ex-user Beetle Moses, garnering 5.8 million views in a week. On February 16th, TikToker Drew J.
01:39Garcia posted an animation depicting the anglerfish swimming to the surface in a Pixar animation style,
01:44garnering over 2.1 million views in a day. The internet would continue to creatively express
01:49their sorrow for the frightening-looking creature's life coming to a poignant and poetic end.
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