Residents of the small Australian town of Lajamanu were forced to take shelter from a downpour, which, in addition to water, brought fish with it, some of which were still alive.
Photos from open sources
Residents of a remote town were surprised when live fish “fell from the sky” during a recent storm. Local Councilman Andrew Johnson Yapananga said some of the fish were alive when they fell, at least two fingers in size.
“Some are still hanging out in the community in a pool of water,” he told ABC. “We saw some fall freely to the ground. And some fall on the roof. It was the most amazing thing we have ever seen. Children collect them and store them in a bottle or jar.”
Layamanu was already fish bombarded in 2010. Then there were reports of perches falling from the clouds. There are other reports of the same in 2004, the mid-1980s and 1974.
Weather experts believe this is caused by bodies of water, along with fish, being sucked into storms by powerful updrafts. Storms can then travel hundreds of kilometers before dissipating and dropping fish on those below.
Locals consider this phenomenon to be God’s blessing, although it is not unique to Lajamanu. A similar incident was reported in 2020 in Yova, another town thousands of kilometers away from Lajamanu.
Queensland Museum ichthyologist Geoff Johnson said the recently fallen fish was a grouper.
“It’s a relatively large fish and can’t be pulled out of the water and kept in the sky for long,” he told ABC. “But obviously that’s exactly what happened.”
