VIRGINIA BEACH, VA -- A surfing group is warning beachgoers to watch their step after a scary-looking fish was found lurking in the Virginia Beach sand.
Multiple news outlets report the East Coast Surfing Championships wrote on their Facebook page that one of the company's friends came across a northern stargazer fish while walking. The strange-looking fish has a speckled, flattened body and a large head.
Although the Chesapeake Bay Program's website says that stargazers tend to live at the bottom of deep, open waters, this particular one was found near the shore.
The program says stargazers bury in the sand with their eyes and mouth sticking out in order to ambush prey.
Surfing officials say that while northern stargazers don't pose any real threat to humans, their electric spines make them a serious predator.