Just when you thought the weather couldn’t get any more apocalyptic, it starts raining fish in the Northern Territory. FISH. First, we had a disastrous heatwave, then we had tornadoes ripping through the country with wild storms at their side, and now this? It’s official, Mother Nature is DONE with our shit.
The fishies fell from the heavens in Lajamanu, a tiny town in the NT that sits just north of the Tanami Desert.
This is actually the fourth time fish have rained in this exact location. Similar events were reported in 1974, 2004 and 2010. I guess precipitation in the Top End just works a little differently??
“We’ve seen a big storm heading up to my community and we thought it was just rain,” Central Desert Councillor Andrew Johnson Japanangka told the ABC.
“We saw some free-falling down to the ground. And some falling onto the roof.
“It was the most amazing thing we’ve ever seen. I think it’s a blessing from the Lord.”
In a freak weather event, alive fish started falling from the sky at the Lajamanu community on the edge of the #Australian desert.
Tornados can suck up fish from lakes and drop them 100s of km away, and if the fish are lucky they won’t freeze, and they’ll survive the fall. pic.twitter.com/G1LXoNz1qI— last_goose_to_Svalbard (@ElaBoubou) February 21, 2023
The falling fish aren’t exactly an omen from God to stop having gay sex during Pride Month, however, and are actually part of a very normal albeit very rare natural phenomenon. What happens is the fish get sucked up by tornadoes or water spouts, taken into the clouds and are eventually dropped down hundreds of kilometres away from their OG spot.
Imagine being a tiny little fish and going through that. That’s about two years of fish therapy to get over the trauma of being so insanely displaced.
According to Japanangka, a few of the fish that fell were actually still alive. I salute them for having such perseverance after literally falling from the sky.
“Some are still hanging around in the community in a puddle of water,” he said.
“Children are picking them up and keeping them in a bottle or a jar.”
I also want a pet sky fish. Those resilient fuckers would never die.
The ABC spoke to Queensland Museum’s ichthyologist (fish expert) Jeff Johnson, who confirmed the fish are spangled grunters, which doesn’t change the fact that FISH RAINED FROM THE FKN SKY.
“I think next time it rains you just need to be out there with a net, catching the fish as they fall, and properly document it,” he said.
“Get some citizen science going and start to build a picture.”
I for one would not want to be running around Lajamanu every time it rained just in case fish fell so scientists could study them.
I still want one as a pet though.
