Andrew Heinzman
Had a bad week? Well, at least you didn’t rise 3,000 feet from your deep sea dwelling only to die on the shores of California. That’s what happened to an anglerfish when, on May 8th, it somehow found its way to California’s beautiful Crystal Cove. Maybe it wanted to go on vacation?
The terrifying deep sea fish is actually a female Pacific Footballfish, a species of anglerfish. (Yeah, they come in different species.) Like in Finding Nemo, real-world anglerfish are equipped with a glowing lure that attracts tasty, gullible fish in the dark depths of the deep sea. You’d think that fish would catch on after awhile, but it seems that this cheap trick has worked for over 100 million years.
RARE FIND! Deep sea anglerfish washed up in Newport Beach on Friday morning! On Crystal Cove beach @CrystalCoveSP staff were alerted by beach visitor Ben Eslef and were able to retrieve this intact specimen.. pic.twitter.com/vERGy5Zujt
— Davey's Locker (@DaveysLocker400) May 9, 2021
The footballfish is dead, of course, but beachgoers found its terrifying body fully intact. California Department of Fish and Wildlife came out to retrieve the specimen, which will probably end up in the Natural History Museum of LA County where three other dead anglerfish dwell.
But our girl will be the star of the show. She’s better preserved than the other anglerfish housed at LA County’s Natural History Museum and her lure is just outrageously disgusting. This fish will terrify children in LA for decades to come, and really, that’s what nature is all about.
Source: Davey’s Locker via PopSci
