Latest news with #CitizenScientistsofTasmania
Daily Mirror
6 days ago
- General
- Daily Mirror
Ultra rare 'Harbinger of Doom' fish washes up on popular tourist beach
A rare oarfish or 'doomsday fish' was found on a beach in Australia by a dog walker - and according to legend, the deep-sea species appearing on land is a very bad omen A fish claimed to be a sign of impending natural disaster has washed up on a beach in Australia. An oarfish - sometimes called the 'doomsday fish' - was found on Ocean Beach on Tasmania's west coast on Monday. The deep-sea creature lives thousands of feet below the surface of the ocean, and so is rarely seen by humans. In Japanese mythology, its appearance is seen as a bad omen, foretelling the later appearance of dangerous sea serpents or tsunamis. But Sybil Robertson, who was walking her dog along the beach when she spotted the nine-foot oarfish, said she was not aware of the apparent significance of her find at first. She was first alerted to its presence by a sea eagle, a bird of prey, which had taken interest in the washed-up creature. Ms Robertson, a resident of nearby Strahan, told the ABC: "I was watching a sea eagle flying around and I noticed it was coming down onto the beach and I thought, 'That's unusual, I don't often see them land on the beach. "I could see it was a long fish but I had no idea what kind of fish" "As I got closer, I could see the beautiful colouring around its head and the markings on it were fabulous." She snapped a few photos at the scene before later sharing them to a social media group called Citizen Scientists of Tasmania, where commenters identified it as an oarfish. Authorities were then contacted, and were urged to act quickly before more birds decided to feast on the fish. Samples were then collected and sent off to the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), an Australian government research agency. Earlier this year, the oarfish's unexpected appearance on a beach in the Canary Islands s parked a social media frenzy, attracting hundreds of thousands of likes and comments. Many referred to the Japanese folk legend of 'ryūgū no tsukai', which claims that the fish dwell beneath Japan's islands, only surfacing as an immediate portent of major earthquakes. Some even claim they surfaced shortly before the devastating 2011 quake, which left nearly 20,000 people dead. Voicing their fears after the Canary Islands sighting, one Instagram user commented: "Something bad is going to happen." Another wrote: "Usually, it means that an earthquake is coming when it appears to the surface of the water." And someone else penned: "Put that back and run, may be a tsunami coming." Despite the persistent myths surrounding the oarfish, a 2019 study by Japanese researchers said there was no evidence of any link between sightings of the species on land and tectonic activity.
NDTV
6 days ago
- General
- NDTV
Rare Doomsday Oarfish, Linked To Earthquake Myths, Spotted In Australia
An oarfish, a rare and one of the ocean's longest fish, washed ashore the Ocean Beach near Strahan in Tasmania on Monday. The three-metre-long doomsday fish was discovered by a resident, Sybil Robertson, during a beach walk. Ms Robertson said, "I'm five foot nine, and I've got a reasonable stride, [it was] a good three-and-a-bit paces. It was fantastic. I just knew it was something unusual and weird." She said she wasn't aware of the oarfish until she posted the picture of it on the social media page of Citizen Scientists of Tasmania, as per The Guardian. The post, later shared on Reddit, quickly went viral. Rarely seen metres-long 'doomsday' oarfish washes up on Tasmania's wild west coast by u/CupidStunt13 in news A user commented, "The ocean is very unhappy with humanity's disdain for it." Another wrote, "The world DOES seem to be ending more frequently lately." "Makes sense that they would be 'harbingers of disaster'. It takes a lot of turbulence to force something that far down to the surface. The kind that might cause a tsunami," read a comment. The deep-sea creature is called the king of herrings and is considered a harbinger of danger. It is capable of growing up to eight meters in length and weighs over 400 kg. The discovery of the oarfish is surprising as it lives deep in the ocean, nearly 150 to 500 metres, and is rarely seen or caught. Neville Barrett, a marine ecologist at the University of Tasmania, said, "It's exceptionally unusual to see anything like that. We're just not out there. We're not looking, we're not diving, we're not even fishing in that part of the ocean." Mr Barrett described oarfish as a slow-moving and lazy fish with very little muscle. It usually just floats gently in the water, often in a vertical position, and feeds on plankton. According to an old Japanese belief, oarfish is referred to as the doomsday fish because its appearance near the surface is thought to be a warning of natural disasters. In some cases, people have reported seeing oarfish washing ashore before major earthquakes, especially in Japan. They assume it can sense underwater seismic activity and rise to the surface to warn humans.
