Rare Oarfish Washes Up in New Zealand Harbor

The nearly 10-foot-long oarfish was found at a salt marsh near Otago Harbor in Aramoana on Thursday, the Otago Daily Times reports.

The local who found the scaly animal called Department of Conservation service manager David Agnew, who said it’s the first time he’s spotted such a creature in his 20 years on the job.

Researchers from the Otago Museum took some samples of the fish for study, but did not have the resources to remove and preserve the entire carcass, natural science curator Emma Burns told the Otago Daily Times.

She noted they had not determined the sex and age of the fish, but did know that the critter consumed a “big feed of krill” before its demise.