Sometimes science doesn’t move forward in a straight line but takes a sudden turn, triggered by chance. That is exactly what happened in December 1938, when an ordinary fishing catch in South Africa led to one of the most astonishing biological discoveries of the 20th century.
A museum curator, going through a fisherman’s haul at a coastal port, picked up a strange, heavy blue fish. At first glance, it looked unusual but what came next would leave the scientific world stunned.
