A pair of fishermen pulled a 'doomsday fish' out of the ocean, and pictures of the scene have made their rounds on the internet.
According to UNILAD, the fish was caught by Curtis Peterson of Tiwi Islands Adventures. The catch took place during a moonlight fishing expedition, off the coast of Melville Island. The island is part of the Tiwi Islands, which sits off the northern coast of Australia.
The fish itself was large, and bizarre in appearance, with a huge and oddly shaped head. Moreover, the animal was nearly translucent and extremely long and lengthy. Perhaps the most attention-grabbing is the animal's eyes, which were quite massive.
The image of the fish, being held by the fishermen who made the catch, went viral after being shared Fishing Australia TV Facebook page this week. Moreover, the picture of the fish made its way to Reddit, where users had themselves quite a day, sharing opinions on the matter.
One Reddit commenter said the fish looked "straight of a sci-fi movie!" Another exclaimed that they had "never seen anything like this before," which is a sentiment many share.
Extremely Rare Fish Caught Off Australia's Northern Coast
The 'doomsday fish' is actually called what is called an Oarfish. Oarfish have been seen across the world, but it is very rare. Most often, the species spends its time at 1,000 meters below the surface. Moreover, Oarfish are usually seen only after washing up on a shore, deceased.
The term 'doomsday fish' is actually not just something pulled from the internet. Rather, the term comes from ancient folklore. Apparently, the term became popular for Oarfish after they continued to wash ashore, deceased, in the aftermath of natural disasters. Countries like Japan had experienced such incidents many times throughout the years.
In the case of this recent catch, NZ News fishing columnist Alex Julius had some interesting things to say. Julius mentioned that it is the first time he had ever heard of an Oarfish being caught in the region.
This recent sighting of a 'doomsday fish' certainly has the internet active and intrigued.
