The oarfish that washed up on Waiharakeke Beach in Abel Tasman National Park.
The deep sea fish usually lives at depths of around 1000 meters and is the longest known living species of bony fish in the world.
Robinson said she was camping at Totaranui Campground in Abel Tasman National Park with her husband Nigel Robinson and a group of 12 friends and children.
The group had just come back from lunch at Awaroa on Thursday when they decided to go for a walk along nearby Waiharakeke Beach as it was low tide.
"We saw something shiny on the edge of the water and thought it was a piece of a boat and walked up and there it was.
"I've never seen anything like it. It looked like a huge lure, it was pretty spectacular."
Robinson said the oarfish was "too big" to try and carry back to the campground, so instead they went to the Department of Conservation office early the next morning to report their find.
Oarfish can reach a length of 17 meters and can weigh up to 270 kilograms.
The oarfish that washed up on the beach on Thursday was about three meters long and was "really heavy".
"We were trying to get the kids to sort of all hold onto it so you could see the length of it, but nobody was really keen.
"We were laughing about taking it home for dinner."
NIWA principal scientist Dr Malcolm Francis said oarfish were rarely seen alive because they lived in deep, open waters.
"They're probably more common than we realise.
"Occasionally they wash up on beaches and on shore, maybe during a storm or after they die they drift to shore."
Te Papa Museum collection manager fishes Andrew Stewart said during spring and summer more oarfish can be found washed up on beaches.
He said they thought the fish might get caught up in the Cook Strait currents, washing them into the bays.
"They can't find their way out, it's quite warm in the bay and they wind up on the beach, poor things.
"They're relatively common globally, you just don't see them because they're in the open ocean."
Totaranui Campground manager Steve Cronin said the Robinsons came in to tell him about their find and show him the photos.
"It was obviously really interesting, it doesn't happen often.
"Andrew Stewart said you do get a few here in the bay apparently.
"He reckons Tasman Bay is a bit of a fish trap."
Cronin said Stewart had been interested in collecting the oarfish, but when he went down on Friday morning it wasn't there anymore.
"It had gone, it was eaten or washed back out to sea or both."
Source: Nelson Mail
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