Wildlife

Oarfish Washes Ashore in New Zealand

A rare oarfish has washed ashore on a salt marsh beach on the southeastern coast of the south island of New Zealand. The oarfish was nearly 10 feet long, but they can grow up to 36 feet; an 18-footer was discovered off California in 2013. Oarfish are typically found in deep water in tropical oceans.

The oarfish was in great shape. Its stomach was full of krill, so it did not starve to death. It seems the strandings occur after earthquakes or storms, and the area just had a severe storm so it is probable that the oarfish got washed in and stranded on the salt marsh.

There have only been five reports of oarfish washing up in the area over the past 150 years, the last being in nearby Dunedin in 1998.

Earthworm Rain in Norway

Scientists in Norway think it may be raining worms in parts of the country. Biologist Karsten Erstad says he came across thousands of earthworms scattered across the mountains while out skiing.

They were unlikely to have tunnelled through the snow because it was too deep, so it appears they rained down from the sky and were still alive despite the cold.

Worms start to emerge from the ground towards the end of winter, and it's possible that some were swept up by strong wind. It's not unusual for the mountainous areas of Norway to experience high winds, so the worms could have been carried quite a distance, before falling back to Earth as earthworm rain.