Many parts of Australia have been experiencing extreme flooding these past few days. But what could be the most bizarre thing so far is the tiny creature a resident in Sydney found after heavy rainfall.
It has stumped biologists, academics, and social media users who all gave their guesses on what the creature could be. Some even believe that it could have come from outer space, given the unusual things happening in the world right now.
What is This Unidentified Creature?
Ladbible recently reported a small creature found in the streets of Sydney. Harry Hayes said that he was jogging on Monday morning when he saw the bizarre creature and started to take a video of him poking it to see if it would move.
Sydney has experienced heavy rainfall recently. However, the creature was out of the flood zone. It was spotted in the Marrickville suburb in the city. Hayes initially thought it was an embryo brought by the heavy rainfall. On the other hand, he suspected it could be something else given the COVID-19 pandemic and the impending World War 3.
He posted the video on Instagram, and it quickly went viral, with several people sharing it on different social media platforms, including Twitter and some news outlets picking up the story.
Several social media users said that it was a shark embryo or a sea creature. Others also said it could be a sea elephant, babel fish, or a cuttlefish, but a simple internet search debunks these guesses.
Even biologists who saw the picture were left stumped by this odd-looking creature. One of these biologists is Ellie Elissa, who reposted the photo on her Twitter account and asked for help from her followers. Elissa said she initially thought it was a possum or glider embryo, but the creature possesses no scale and none of her peers agreed.
Someone also suggested that it could be a germinating seed, but Ellisa immediately contradicted this as the sac is too transparent, and it is unclear whether it is a sac at all.
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Is It Possible to Rain Animals?
For now, the creature remains unidentified that even academics from the University of Sydney and the University of New South Wales could not identify it. On the other hand, it is scientifically possible for animal rain to happen wherein some small animals get swept by waterspouts or updrafts.
According to National Geographic, this weather phenomenon is most associated with waterspouts that form as storm clouds swirl in a large body of water. It creates a tornado-like whirlwind called a vortex that dips into the ocean or lake or pond that may pull up small objects, including pebbles and small aquatic animals.
Some of the animals reported found in animal rain are bats, birds, fish, frogs, jellies, and even snakes that have been recorded even centuries ago. Below is the video Mr Hayes took of the bizarre creature:
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