Oarfish found on Dunedin beach 'not a harbinger of doom'
A dead oarfish lies in the sand at Aramoana Beach this week. A recent sighting of the long pelagic fish in Tasmania prompted a flurry of international headlines about the rare ''doomsday'' fish. PHOTO: SHARON CAMPBELL
An oarfish that recently washed up on Dunedin's Aramoana Beach is likely not a "harbinger of doom", but it is "certainly an unusual sight and a special one", the Department of Conservation (Doc) says.
A reader sent the Otago Daily Times photos of one of the rare deep-sea fish after it washed ashore at Aramoana earlier this week.
Sightings of the long, ribbon-like fish often prompt talk of "doomsday fish", or recollections of Japanese folklore, in which sightings of oarfish were believed to be signs of imminent earthquakes or tsunamis.
However, Doc marine species manager Malene Felsing said "as for being a 'harbinger of doom' — that's more myth than marine biology."
"In some cultures, oarfish have been linked to folklore and natural disasters, but there's no scientific evidence to support those beliefs," she said.
"Sometimes these stories resurface because the fish are so rarely seen and have an almost otherworldly appearance."
Dr Felsing said oarfish sightings in New Zealand were "very rare".
The deep-sea fish usually lived at depths of 200m to 1000m, and only seemed to wash up onshore when they were unwell or dying.
"While they're not unheard of in our waters, they're certainly an unusual sight and a special one."
The reader said they found the fish near Bear Rock one June 3.
"I reckon it would have been 3-4 metres long. I don't believe it's a harbinger of doom, and I have never seen one before."
Dr Felsing said temperate and tropical oceans worldwide, including around New Zealand, provided a habitat for the oarfish, but they were more commonly encountered in the northern hemisphere.
"Because they live in such deep water, they're rarely seen alive, which adds to their mystery and appeal."
Doc typically did not get involved in strandings of deep-sea fish such as oarfish, unless there was some sort of risk posed to people or other species.
"However, they are fascinating specimens, and any sighting is a great opportunity to learn more about our marine biodiversity."
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Otago Daily Times
a day ago
- Otago Daily Times
Oarfish found on Dunedin beach 'not a harbinger of doom'
A dead oarfish lies in the sand at Aramoana Beach this week. A recent sighting of the long pelagic fish in Tasmania prompted a flurry of international headlines about the rare ''doomsday'' fish. PHOTO: SHARON CAMPBELL An oarfish that recently washed up on Dunedin's Aramoana Beach is likely not a "harbinger of doom", but it is "certainly an unusual sight and a special one", the Department of Conservation (Doc) says. A reader sent the Otago Daily Times photos of one of the rare deep-sea fish after it washed ashore at Aramoana earlier this week. Sightings of the long, ribbon-like fish often prompt talk of "doomsday fish", or recollections of Japanese folklore, in which sightings of oarfish were believed to be signs of imminent earthquakes or tsunamis. However, Doc marine species manager Malene Felsing said "as for being a 'harbinger of doom' — that's more myth than marine biology." "In some cultures, oarfish have been linked to folklore and natural disasters, but there's no scientific evidence to support those beliefs," she said. "Sometimes these stories resurface because the fish are so rarely seen and have an almost otherworldly appearance." Dr Felsing said oarfish sightings in New Zealand were "very rare". The deep-sea fish usually lived at depths of 200m to 1000m, and only seemed to wash up onshore when they were unwell or dying. "While they're not unheard of in our waters, they're certainly an unusual sight and a special one." The reader said they found the fish near Bear Rock one June 3. "I reckon it would have been 3-4 metres long. I don't believe it's a harbinger of doom, and I have never seen one before." Dr Felsing said temperate and tropical oceans worldwide, including around New Zealand, provided a habitat for the oarfish, but they were more commonly encountered in the northern hemisphere. "Because they live in such deep water, they're rarely seen alive, which adds to their mystery and appeal." Doc typically did not get involved in strandings of deep-sea fish such as oarfish, unless there was some sort of risk posed to people or other species. "However, they are fascinating specimens, and any sighting is a great opportunity to learn more about our marine biodiversity."
Otago Daily Times
2 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
One fish, long fish, dead fish, oarfish
A dead oarfish lies in the sand at Aramoana Beach this week. A recent sighting of the long pelagic fish in Tasmania prompted a flurry of international headlines about the rare ''doomsday'' fish. PHOTO: SHARON CAMPBELL An oarfish that recently washed up on Dunedin's Aramoana Beach is likely not a "harbinger of doom", but it is "certainly an unusual sight and a special one", the Department of Conservation (Doc) says. A reader sent the Otago Daily Times photos of one of the rare deep-sea fish after it washed ashore at Aramoana earlier this week. Sightings of the long, ribbon-like fish often prompt talk of "doomsday fish", or recollections of Japanese folklore, in which sightings of oarfish were believed to be signs of imminent earthquakes or tsunamis. However, Doc marine species manager Malene Felsing said "as for being a 'harbinger of doom' — that's more myth than marine biology." "In some cultures, oarfish have been linked to folklore and natural disasters, but there's no scientific evidence to support those beliefs," she said. "Sometimes these stories resurface because the fish are so rarely seen and have an almost otherworldly appearance." Dr Felsing said oarfish sightings in New Zealand were "very rare". The deep-sea fish usually lived at depths of 200m to 1000m, and only seemed to wash up onshore when they were unwell or dying. "While they're not unheard of in our waters, they're certainly an unusual sight and a special one." Temperate and tropical oceans worldwide, including around New Zealand, provided a habitat for the oarfish, but they were more commonly encountered in the northern hemisphere. "Because they live in such deep water, they're rarely seen alive, which adds to their mystery and appeal," Dr Felsing said. Doc typically did not get involved in strandings of deep-sea fish such as oarfish, unless there was some sort of risk posed to people or other species. "However, they are fascinating specimens, and any sighting is a great opportunity to learn more about our marine biodiversity."
Otago Daily Times
3 days ago
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Pests impede deer repellent trial
Possums are interfering with a trial to find out if white-tail deer avoid bait laced with a deer repellent. The trial, taking place on Stewart Island, is designed by Manaaki Whenua — Landcare Research, which will analyse the data while Zero Invasive Predators (ZIP) staff do the field work. Non-toxic cereal bait, with and without deer repellent, is being placed in front of trail cameras to observe how white-tailed deer interact with it. The trial is being carried out on public conservation land at Halfmoon Bay. Last year, the Department of Conservation (Doc) announced plans to drop 1080 cereal bait to reduce the feral cat population endangering the southern New Zealand dotterel/pukunui on Stewart Island. About 43,000ha of Rakiura National Park will be poisoned between June and September. The park, including bookable hunting blocks, will remain open during the operation but bait laced with deer repellent will be used within bookable hunting blocks only. ZIP operations director Duncan Kay said progress in the trial had been slower than expected, due to the thriving population of possums on the island. "They seem to be faster at finding these baits than the deer, reducing our chances of recording deer interactions." The trial, requested by hunters, aimed to find out if deer repellent reduced the impact of aerial 1080 on Stewart Island's white-tailed deer population, Mr Kay said. It would also show if adding deer repellent reduced the effectiveness of 1080 cereal bait on key target species such as ship rats, Norway rats and kiore. So far 20 deer had interacted with the bait and none had eaten it, Mr Kay said. "We need to record at least 100 interactions, where a white-tail deer approaches close enough to see and smell the bait, to form a statistically meaningful data set." The trial would continue until sufficient data was collected, which could take several more months, he said. A second trial would run during the aerial 1080 operation, when bait containing deer repellent would be dropped in the bookable hunting blocks. Deer repellent had been used in aerial operations elsewhere in New Zealand and had been shown to reduce impacts on deer species including red deer, he said. It is estimated the six-year Predator Free Rakiura project to eradicate pests will cost between $85 million-$90m. New Zealand Deerstalkers Association president Callum Sheridan said his group advocated for the use of deer repellent in all 1080 bait. "The excuse is there is not enough budget for it." Each year the association met groups, including Doc, which planned to use aerial 1080 poisoning to discuss where deer repellent would be included in bait drops. However, the area where deer repellent was used was very small compared with the total area where 1080 was dropped, he said. "You would think it was a public safety risk, especially in the areas where people are going to harvest game meat, that you would just put deer repellent in it as a matter of course because that's the intelligent thing to do."
