Latest news with #SybilJethro
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Incredible and 'rare' phenomenon on quiet Aussie beach vanishes within 24 hours
A dog walker strolling along a rugged Australian beach was 'amazed' to stumble across a sprawling natural phenomenon few people are lucky enough to witness. While Sybil Jethro thought the formation resembled ancient stalactites, which grow slowly at 10cm every thousand years, experts believe the strange sand flow she photographed likely materialised in milliseconds. Sybil spotted the gnarled shapes in the sand on Sunday morning at Ocean Beach, a wild 37km stretch of sand on Tasmania's west coast. They were just two metres from the water's edge, and directly below a bank of mud or peat. 'I'd say it was as big as a couple of tables, big eight-seater dining room-sized,' she told Yahoo News Australia. 'I couldn't quite work them out. They were close to the water line, so I'm pretty sure the next high tide will just wash them away.' Related: 🦀 Incredible sand formations created by sand bubbler crabs How were the sand formations created? The formations in her pictures have been described as resembling seaweed, tongues, and even caterpillars. But Professor Patrick Hesp, an expert in coastal geomorphology at Flinders University, has settled on the description of 'tongues'. He explained it's 'rare' to see formations as large as these. They form quickly during a sudden inundation of water onto the sand and are quickly destroyed by the tides or more rain. When a bed of sand is suddenly soaked with water, it can form dozens of these long, flowing 'tongues' which then move down the hillside. Professor Hesp compares them to debris flows that occur after heavy water flows turn loose soil, rock and organic matter into a slurry, but in this case, they're much smaller. Their lifespan is short because as they move over sand that's less wet, the moisture sinks below, drying out the tongue above. 'People don't think sand dunes have much water influence, but at times, you get quite significant sheet wash. This means the water is flowing across the surface and washing a fan of sand down,' Professor Hesp explained. 'But on occasions it's more localised, and it produces these saturated flows that just lose all their water suddenly and stop in place.' Replacements form after 'tongues' vanish After returning to Ocean Beach on Monday morning, the original sand tongue Sybil photographed was gone. Signs of million-year-old ancient humans found on Australia's doorstep Solution to Great Barrier Reef problem as new report released Toxic chemicals in simple household items pose worrying 'threat' But already there were new ones forming along the coastline. Although they aren't as intricate as her weekend find, her images help illustrate how these incredible structures form. With her dog sitting on the sand for scale, you can see large globs of sand rolling down the bank. Incredibly, the sand tongues were just 1.5km from where Sybil photographed a rare oarfish in June, also known as a "doomsday fish". While its discovery created national media attention, she was likely the only person to witness the intact fish before it was torn apart by scavenging birds. Love Australia's weird and wonderful environment? 🐊🦘😳 Get our new newsletter showcasing the week's best stories.
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Dog walker discovers rare fish linked to dark legend on windswept Aussie beach
A dog walker has laughed off suggestions that her rare discovery on a remote Australian beach could be a bad omen. The first sign that something odd had washed up on the sand was the group of eagles flying right down onto the sand. Sybil Jethro describes Tasmania's west coast as wild, and consequently, it's not unusual for her to come across whales, dolphins, or seals washed up on Ocean Beach near Strahan. 'But I hadn't seen anything like this, certainly nothing this big,' she said. The glistening creature she'd stumbled across was a 175cm-long oarfish, a long creature that's colloquially referred to as the 'doomsday fish' because of its connection to a dark Japanese legend. How rare oarfish are remains a mystery, because it inhabits waters 250 to 1,000 metres below the surface, and it's uncommon to see one alive. Two dead oarfish were discovered in California in August and November last year, prompting an investigation by UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography. After the first was found by swimmers in waters off San Diego, a 4.4 magnitude earthquake was detected in Los Angeles, reviving talk of their unproven connection to these natural disasters. Associations between oarfish and earthquakes date back to 17th-century Japan, and were renewed in 2011 after 20 were spotted ahead of the earthquake that sparked the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Although there is no scientific evidence the two are connected. It was 16 degrees, the wind was strong, and rain was threatening to pour, so visitors to the beach were keeping to the lookout, and no one else likely saw the oarfish in person. While her bounding, 25kg dog was interested in its body, he didn't try and take a bite out of it, which was unusual behaviour. When Sybil returned home on Monday morning and shared images of the fish to social media, a friend immediately contacted her. 'She said it's an oarfish, they're bad juju, you don't want to go near it,' she said. 😳 Rapid succession of giant sunfish deaths leave scientists 'lost for words' 📸 Beach find highlights dark side of Aussie state's $88 million tourism pledge 🏝️ Camping trip takes sad turn with 50kg find under sand But Sybil feels lucky to have seen the strange creature, as it wasn't long before it vanished. 'It was so shiny, pretty and beautiful. But it isn't anymore, because I went back in the afternoon and it had been mauled. It was a good feast for the eagles and crows,' she said. 'When I got back a few hours later, there was no head, and the body was almost gone. I was really lucky to see it in such beautiful condition.' Authorities were later seen examining what remained of the carcass, and Yahoo is working to confirm whether samples have been taken. Love Australia's weird and wonderful environment? 🐊🦘😳 Get our new newsletter showcasing the week's best stories.
