An unusual suspect is being sought by police for a power outage in New Jersey: an osprey that dropped a fish on to power lines, causing a nearby community to temporarily lose their electricity.
A fish that fell from the grip of the bird in question landed on a transformer in Sayreville, New Jersey, on 12 August, causing the coils within it to become misaligned, according to Jersey Central Power & Light, a utility company.
This caused about 2,000 people to lose power, the company said. While animals can sometimes cause power outages, “fish are not on the list of frequent offenders”, a company spokesperson said. “We also send our thoughts to the osprey because if you’ve ever dropped your ice-cream cone at the fair, you know the feeling.”
It’s suspected that an osprey was responsible for the unexpected, fishy interruption. The fish’s scales appeared punctured, likely by talons, and it is thought that it was then dropped over the power lines.
Ospreys were previously endangered in New Jersey but are now recovering, with 733 nesting pairs of the large, fish-eating raptors documented across the state in a survey last year. Jersey Central Power & Light said that it regularly inspects its equipment to see if ospreys have nested there, relocating them if necessary.
Police in Sayreville, somewhat tongue in cheek, posted a suspect sketch of an osprey on Facebook, along with a picture of the fish, which was given the name Gilligan, with a “police line do not cross” tape in front of it.
“Please let us not forget the victim in this senseless death,” the police force posted. “Gilligan was a hard working family man. He was a father to thousands of children. The suspect was last seen flying south. If you see him do not try to apprehend him. Although he isn’t believed to be armed he may still be very dangerous.”
• This article was amended on 24 August 2023. An earlier version referred to a “transponder”, rather than a transformer.
