The video that captured many hearts and imaginations has led some in the TikTok community to mourn the loss of the little deep-sea fish that swam hundreds, maybe even thousands of miles to the surface to die. Marine researcher David Jara Boguñá, in conjunction with Condrik-Tenerife, an NGO dedicated to the research of elasmobranchs (like sharks), recently came across something unexpected during a research dive near the Canary Islands—a humpback anglerfish. The find shocked them because these anglerfish live in the deep sea, down to 15,000 feet.
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“This could be the world’s first recorded sighting of an adult black devil or abyssal anglerfish (Melanocetus johnsonii) alive, in broad daylight and on the surface!!” wrote Boguñá in his Instagram post sharing the viral video of the anglerfish swimming straight up toward the surface. “A legendary fish that few people will have had the privilege of observing alive. The reason for its presence in such shallow waters is uncertain. Maybe due to illness, an updraft, fleeing from a predator, etc.”
Boguñá recently followed up with another video with some behind-the-scenes footage that has some folks on TikTok feeling sad, because it shows how tiny the anglerfish really was, and it also shows that it died.
First, watch the original video, the live footage of an anglerfish near the surface of the ocean that went viral:
And now, check out TikTok’s reaction to the story of the deep-sea fish that came to the surface to die, which some have deemed very sad:
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