It doesn’t take much to make me cry, but it turns out the rest of the internet is as emotionally unstable as I am. How do I know this? Because we’ve all been collectively sobbing over the story of the anglerfish who swam to the ocean’s surface and died.
Now, fish die every day. I, for one, have been personally responsible for accidentally killing my pre-K crush’s pet goldfish (why would you let a 4-year-old feed a fish?). So why is everyone suddenly an empath when it comes to one of the ugliest fish to ever exist? Seriously, anglerfish are the stuff of nightmares. They’re basically just a floating mouth with razor-sharp teeth and a creepy little headlamp. This isn’t Nemo’s long-lost cousin, this is the monster that keeps Nemo up at night.
And yet, the internet is devastated. People are writing elegies for this six-inch seadevil like it was their childhood pet. TikTok users are waxing poetic about its final moments, imagining that it was just a lonely little soul who swam up to see a light other than its own before drifting off to the big aquarium in the sky. I haven’t seen this much emotional projection since I watched The Notebook with my freshly dumped sister.
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Why Is The Internet So Sad About This Anglerfish?
Honestly, I think we all just needed a good cry. Sure, there are more serious things happening in the world (see: Trump presidency), but sometimes it’s easier to pour your emotions into a tragic fish tale than to confront your existential dread head-on. The footage of the anglerfish swimming towards the surface is weirdly poetic, and people on TikTok are eating it up. One user even wrote, “Close your eyes and just imagine for one minute… just ONE minute and be her. The feeling she had seeing a light other than her own and then leaving this world.” BRB, ugly crying.
Then there are the conspiracy theories. Some are convinced the fish was on a heroic quest, while others think it was sick, scared, or simply lonely. And because this is the internet, people got creative. Someone even used AI to animate the anglerfish’s final journey like a Finding Nemo spinoff.
So What’s The Real Reason This Fish Swam To The Surface?
Okay, here’s where the scientists come in to ruin all our romanticized fanfic. Marine researchers have a few less poetic but more plausible explanations. One theory is that a predator tried to eat the fish and then barfed it up closer to the surface. Gross, but logical. Another possibility is that the anglerfish got caught in an upward-moving column of warm water and was basically pushed to the top by Mother Nature.
Regardless of how it got there, the fish sadly died just hours after being filmed, making its final swim even more heartbreaking. And as someone who cries over car commercials when the kid is going off to college, I get it. The internet needed a cathartic release, and this little seadevil delivered.
In the end, the anglerfish wasn’t just a creepy deep-sea creature — it was a symbol of bravery, loneliness, and existential curiosity… or at least that’s what TikTok would have you believe. Either way, this fish made waves, and I, for one, am glad to know that even the ugliest creatures can leave a beautiful legacy.
