Ultra-Rare Footage of Black Seadevil Anglerfish Swimming Near Surface

A photographer captured what could be the first-ever recorded footage of a black devil anglerfish swimming in broad daylight at the ocean surface.

David Jara Boguńá’s footage was captured near Spain’s Canary Islands on January 26 and it caused a stir online with some even becoming emotional over the deep sea fish’s plight.

“It could be the first recorded sighting in the world of an adult black devil or abyssal anglerfish alive,” says Boguńá in an Instagram post. “A legendary fish that few people will have had the privilege of observing alive.”

The anglerfish sadly died shortly after the footage was taken. It had swam great lengths from its home which is usually somewhere between 200 and 2,000 meters (656 feet and 6,560 feet) beneath the ocean waves.

Quite why the deep sea fish journeyed to the surface is a mystery but scientists have speculated it could be due to an unusual current, an illness, or perhaps the surprisingly small fish was fleeing a predator.

“We have no definitive explanation, but this is certainly not typical,” one of the researchers tells Tenerife Weekly. “It is a very occasional and uncommon sighting. While we cannot declare that it never occurs, if such sightings were to happen on a more regular basis, we can assert that this could be the first documented instance of this kind.”

But perhaps even more surprisingly, is the response the fish has prompted online with some shedding tears for it on social media.

“My first reaction was, ‘Oh my god, this fish is terrifying,’” 29-year-old Hannah Backman tells The New York Times. However, she eventually saw the fish as a creature trying to reach sunlight.

“This poor fish is just spending her literal last seconds trying to do something beautiful,” she says. “I did shed a few tears.”

After the fish — also known as an adult abyssal anglerfish — died, biologists took it as a sample and transferred it to the Museum of Nature and Archeology (MUNA) in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.