The death of one of the sea’s uglier creatures has led to an outpouring online. What is it about this unfortunate creature that has evoked such big feelings?.
Here’s an unexpected addition to our 2025 bingo card: young women across the internet have been devastated by the demise of a nightmarish fanged fish. A black seadevil anglerfish (unflatteringly described by one marine biologist as “pretty much evolved to be a giant head”), usually a deep-sea dweller, was recently caught on camera swimming close to the surface by a shark research group near Tenerife. Sadly, apparently sick or injured, it died.
This, however, was only the start of the anglerfish’s journey in the hearts and TikToks of young women. The fish’s story has triggered an outpouring of emotion. The narrative they have adopted is that the tiny anglerfish, who lived her life in darkness, wanted to feel the “sun on her face”, so swam alone through the vast ocean to do that before expiring. There have been tattoos, poetry and oceans of tears. “If you have a girlfriend right now, do yourself a favour and go ask her how she’s feeling about the anglerfish,” wrote one TikTok user. “There is a 98% chance she has already bawled her eyes out about it.”.
