Latest news with #SybilRobertson
New York Post
2 days ago
- General
- New York Post
‘Very rare' oarfish washes up on beach, sparking doomsday fears: ‘We're cooked, aren't we?'
Is there about to be an apocalypse? A rare 'doomsday' oarfish has washed ashore yet again — this time in Australia, sparking fears that a catastrophe could be around the corner. 'I just knew it was something unusual and weird,' Sybil Robertson told the Guardian of the 'fantastic' flotsam, which she discovered while walking her dog on Ocean Beach in Tasmania on Monday. Advertisement The Strahan resident became curious after seeing a streak of silver on the beach, and, when she approached, she realized that it was a massive sea creature. 3 An oarfish sighting is 'a very rare occasion when one washes ashore,' said Neville Barrett, a fish biologist and associate professor with the University of Tasmania's Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies. A beachgoer found the one above earlier this week in Tasmania. Sybil Robertson 'I could see it was a long fish, but I had no idea what kind of fish,' Robertson recounted to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 'As I got closer, I could see the beautiful coloring around its head, and the markings on it were fabulous.' Advertisement Aside from a few injuries, the shimmery specimen appeared to be in good condition. The Aussie posted pics of the serpentine sea creature to the 'Citizen Scientists of Tasmania' Facebook page, where marine experts confirmed that the ethereal-looking animal was an oarfish. 3 Robertson found the critter (pictured) while walking her dog on Ocean Beach in Tasmania. Sybil Robertson This particular specimen appeared to be around nine feet long, much smaller than their maximum size of 56 feet — the longest of any bony fish. Advertisement Scientists said the find was particularly special since the creepy critters generally reside at depths of up to around 1,650 feet deep. 'It's a very rare occasion when one washes ashore,' said Neville Barrett, a fish biologist and associate professor with the University of Tasmania's Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies. 'There's not many reportings at all.' He said that very few people have seen the denizens of the deep alive. 3 This giant oarfish was found washed up on the California coast in 2013. Catalina Island Marine Institute Advertisement In the unlikely event that the elusive critters do surface, they are likely sick or close to death, according to scientists 'Occasionally, when they are sick, apparently, they swim up to the surface for unknown reasons,' Barrett said. However, superstitious folks have viewed the oarfish as a sign of doom. According to Japanese mythology, the serpentine plankton-eaters will purposely rise to the surface and beach themselves whenever they sense that trouble's on the horizon. In fact, doomsday fears ramped up during Japan's deadly 2011 Fukushima earthquake and tsunami when dozens of the pelagic beasts washed ashore in the two years preceding the catastrophe. Doomsdayers on Reddit felt this latest sighting was another sign of the apocalypse, with one writing, 'We're cooked, aren't we?' 'Tasmania should evacuate. Or batten down the hatches,' declared another. Advertisement A third warned, 'The oarfish is seen as a horrible omen. Like a black cat breaking a mirrored salt shaker under a ladder bad.' However, Barrett said he doesn't 'put much credence' in this theory, claiming that a beached oarfish is just a 'random event' — rather than a bad omen. 'There's no real evidence there's any linkage,' he said. 'I can imagine a significant earthquake could disturb mid-water fish and stun them and lead to some coming up, but that's at the same time [as the disaster].'
Daily Mirror
2 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.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Climate
- Daily Mail
Ultra rare 'Harbinger of Doom' fish seen as a sign of looming natural disaster washes up on Australian beach
A rare 'doomsday' nine-foot-long oarfish has washed up on a beach in Tasmania. The sea creature was discovered on Ocean Beach on the western coast of the Australian island on Monday by dogwalker Sybil Robertson. Robertson, who estimates the fish was about nine feet in length, said of the rare find: 'It was fantastic. I just knew it was something unusual and weird.' Oarfish are often interpreted as a bad omen when seen outside of their natural habitat in the depths of the ocean. Robertson said she did not know how rare the fish was until she shared images of the sea creature on a local Facebook group, which show the enormous silver fish washed up on the sand. The post was then re-shared on social platform Reddit and quickly went viral, with several Internet users commenting on the potential meaning of the fish, which has been linked to anticipating catastrophic events in Japanese mythology. 'The ocean is very unhappy with humanity's disdain for it', one user commented. Another said: 'We're seeing a lot of these rare "doomsday" fish washing up these days, aren't we?'. 'The world DOES seem to be ending more frequently lately', a third wrote. Oarfish can measure up to 36 feet in length and weigh over 441 pounds. Legend has it they are harbingers of earthquakes or other natural disasters. The rare sighting in Tasmania comes months after an oarfish washed up on a beach in the Canary Islands. The sea creature was discovered on February 10 on the coast of Playa Quemada in Lanzarote by bathers, and sparked fears online. A video of the sea creature went viral on Instagram, showing how a man goes up to the silver fish to rescue it. The sighting on the Spanish island came just weeks after a similar fish sparked fears on a beach in Mexico. Surfers spotted the creature on the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula. The massive fish, about as long as a surfboard, featured a silvery-blue body with a stunning red fin trailing down its back but had an injured tail.
NDTV
2 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.
The Guardian
3 days ago
- General
- The Guardian
Rarely seen metres-long ‘doomsday' oarfish washes up on Tasmania's wild west coast
At first it looked like a great silver streak on the sand. An oarfish, fantastically long and rarely seen, had washed up on Tasmania's rugged west coast. Oarfish, one of the ocean's longest fish, are astonishing creatures that grow up to eight metres long. Nicknamed the 'king of herrings' or more unkindly the 'doomsday fish', some legends and stories consider the animals to be harbingers of disaster. Sybil Robertson made the unusual discovery while walking on Ocean Beach near Strahan, on Monday. 'When I go out there, I'm the only person on the beach,' she said. 'It's really wild. There's nothing between here and Argentina.' On Monday, she walked in a different direction than usual and noticed a group of sea eagles inspecting the fish, which she estimated was around three metres long, on the sand. 'I'm five foot nine, and I've got a reasonable stride, [it was] a good three-and-a-bit paces,' she said. 'It was fantastic,' she said, although not realising what it was. 'I just knew it was something unusual and weird.' But her find was quickly identified as an oarfish when she posted a photo on the Citizen Scientists of Tasmania social media page. 'Its exceptionally unusual to see anything like that,' said assoc prof Neville Barrett, a marine ecologist at the University of Tasmania. Oarfish are an 'epipelagic' species, he said, living in the open ocean at mid-water depths of 150 to 500m, from where they are rarely seen or caught. 'We're just not out there,' Barrett said. 'We're not looking, we're not diving, we're not even fishing in that part of the ocean.' Oarfish are 'a phenomenally big fish' he said, which can weigh more than 400kg. He described them as a lazy fish with very little muscle that tends to float around, often vertically in the water, eating various types of plankton. 'They're not active feeders. They don't chase their prey. They're just nibbling on whatever's there. So they don't have to be very strong, or great swimmers,' he said. Very few people have seen an oarfish in the wild. Marine biologist Jorja Gilmore is 'one of the lucky ones'. In 2022, she was leading a small tour group of snorkelers on the Great Barrier Reef near Port Douglas when they spotted something strange in the water below them. This one was a juvenile, long and thin like a ruler, with tendrils that made it look a bit like a giant lure, Gilmore said. 'It was so bizarre', she said, 'like something from the deep sea'. The incredibly rare encounter is thought to be the first recorded with this species on the east coast of Australia. 'It's still the best thing I have seen in the water to this day,' Gilmore said. Robinson feels fortunate to have come across the fish in such good condition. A few hours later the head was gone, and the body was already decimated by crows and eagles, she said. 'It's just so interesting what you can find if you just keep your eyes open whilst you're looking around. It's just amazing.'
