A fisherman sailing the Norwegian Sea has found an array of terrifying sea creatures that look like they swam straight out of a horror movie.
Roman Fedortsov, 39, often posts photos of the rare fish he finds while exploring leagues under the sea — but one fish, in particular, became a viral hit.
A photo of the fish, which many commenters have compared to a “baby dragon,” has gone viral, amassing over 22,000 likes on Instagram.
The light pink and silver fish has large cartoon-like eyes on each side of its head, wing-shaped fins and a long, spiked tail.
“Just a quote ‘It’s one thing to chase something nameless, but quite another thing to find it’ – G.F. Lovecraft,” Fedortsov captioned the photo on Instagram to share with his 646,000 followers.
“It looks a little like a newly hatched dragon to me,” one person commented, with another concurring, “Looks like a baby dragon!”
“Looks mythological,” suggested one stunned commenter, echoing others.
“Welp, I think I don’t need to swim in the ocean ever again,” decided another freaked-out onlooker.
After seeing Fedortsov’s other deep-sea finds, many people might agree.
The Murmansk-based fisherman works on a boat searching for cod, haddock and mackerel on commercial trawlers, diving up to 3,000 feet below the surface, the Daily Mail reported.
Many of the fish brought up from the deep water die due to the change in pressure, he said. Fedortsov studied marine science at a university in Murmansk.
He spends the majority of his time sailing in the Barents Sea, off the northern coasts of Russia, which feeds into the Arctic Ocean, but also travels to other parts of the world, including the Atlantic Ocean.
While exploring the deep sea, Fedortsov has found plenty of other bizarre sea creatures that look like everything from aliens to cheeseburgers.
Instagram users were quick to comment on the spooky creatures and have often helped to identify the wild finds. Fedortsov explained to the Daily Mail that he often shares the pictures in hopes of discovering what rare sea monster he found.
People often comment about the strange appearance of many of the creatures, but he said he sees the beauty in all creatures.
“In their own way, all of these creatures are beautiful,” he told Daily Mail.
“All kinds of fish are beautiful in their own way. I cannot say that they are ‘scary’ or ‘ugly.’ People are very interested in unusual sea creatures,” he said.
And although he has amassed an impressive collection of underwater oddities, hauling them up is actually not a regular occurrence.
“Readers have the impression that with each trawl we bring aboard unusual fish specimens,” the fisherman added. “In fact, this is far from the case. It is a rarity.
“On the other hand, even a famous fish can be photographed so that it will seem to be a ‘monster.'”
