Australian Woman Finds A Rare, Deep Sea Fish On The Beach, & Legend Links The Sighting To Impending Disaster

Another rare fish washes up onto a sandy beach.

This year, humans have had many encounters with sea life that we do not and should not often see. First, social media freaked out after a deep-sea fish, known as a humpback anglerfish, was spotted swimming near the coast of Tenerife, off the Canary Islands in Spain.

@nbcnewsResearchers in #Spain believe they’ve possibly recorded the first-ever sighting of an adult abyssal #anglerfish off the coast of #Tenerife.

♬ Horror Sound Music – Mauro Rawn

Later this year, a prehistoric-looking longnose lancetfish washed up on a beach in Oregon. While the lancetfish was not as rare a sighting, given that its migration pattern goes toward the Oregon beaches in the spring and summer, the fish normally resides around water 6,000 feet deep, so to see one washed up on shore is not an everyday occurrence.

Now, a third rare fish sighting has occurred in Australia. Similar to the humpback anglerfish, this fish resides deep in the ocean, which is concerning to the public to see washed ashore. Sybil Robertson stumbled upon a giant oarfish while walking on Tasmania’s rugged west coast Monday morning.

“When I go out there, I’m the only person on the beach. It’s really wild. There’s nothing between here and Argentina.”

She told the Guardian. That morning, Robertson walked a different direction than her usual path and saw a group of seagulls on the beach preying over something. As she approached the creature, she was shocked to see a fish/snake-looking animal. The beast was an oarfish.

Oarfish, one of the ocean’s longest fish, can grow over 25 feet long. While the one Robertson found was not that long, she estimated it to be at about 10 feet long, which is still quite terrifying to stumble upon.

“I’m five foot nine, and I’ve got a reasonable stride, [it was] a good three-and-a-bit paces.”

While Robertson knew that it was extraordinary and unusual to see, she snapped a picture and posted it to the Citizen Scientists of Tasmania social media page, where users helped her identify the fish.

Professor Neville Barrett, a marine ecologist at the University of Tasmania, spoke to the Guardian, noting how unusual it is that she stumbled upon an oarfish. Barrett said the fish live in the open ocean at mid-water depths of at least 500 feet, as sometimes go more than 1,500 feet deep… they are rarely seen or caught.

Barrett said that oarfish are considered lazy fish with little muscle. They will often swim vertically, just float around the water, and feast on plankton. While this sighting is incredible, social media is concerned about the dead fish on the beach because the “incredibly rare” creature’s presence suggests impending disaster.

Does this oarfish on shore mean the end is near? I sure hope not.

If you want to learn more about this rare fish, check out this video from 1996 when one of the first oarfish was spotted.

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