A rare deep‑sea fish often linked to impending doom was saved after washing up on a Co Clare beach this week.
The oarfish, a long, ribbon‑like creature, was found on Tuesday evening on Fanore beach by a group of Brazilian visitors out enjoying the sunset.
Guilherme Dantas de Oliveira (24), who lives in Gort, Co Galway, said he and a friend were running on the empty beach and decided to put their feet in the water to check the temperature.
They looked into the water and "saw something shining very brightly" that appeared to be stuck, he said.
They first thought it might be a "piece of plastic", but on closer inspection realised it was a fish, some 2.5m in length and with "red parts" they had never seen before.
The friends feared it might be an electric eel and were reluctant to touch it. "We didn't know if it would shock us or not. It was kind of gelatinous. But we kept touching it and it was still alive, moving," de Oliveira said.
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