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 n 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.