Three-metre giant oarfish, ‘palace messenger’ of doom, washes up on Tasmanian beach

‘Oarfish just rock up at random’: despite tales of old, one study found no link between sightings of these slender sea creatures and imminent disaster. Photograph: Tony Cheesman

It was a beautiful warm day in north-west Tasmania when a fish with a reputation as a harbinger of doom washed ashore.

Tony Cheesman, who lives in the seaside town of Penguin, was walking his two dogs, Ronan and Custard, along the beach at Preservation Bay on Friday morning when something silvery and surrounded by gulls grabbed his attention.