It's hard to disagree with aquatic ecologist, Keith Bishop who says 2019-2020 has been a one in a million.
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Bushfires, drought, floods and sedimentation, COVID, millions of dead lady beetles on the beach, jellyfish falling from the sky and earlier this week Dr Bishop found a 1.32kg, 48.5 cm Eastern rock blackfish in the forest-enclosed front yard of his Bungwahl property.
Puzzling, considering the closest body of water, Smiths Lake, on the NSW Mid North Coast, is more than two kilometres away.
This species of blackfish typically lives in surge areas about rocky coastlines so perhaps after being discarded by a fisherman it arose from Seal Rocks 10km away, Dr Bishop surmised.
"Weirdly, this is similar to the jellyfish drop in January," Dr Bishop said.
Dr Bishop first noticed two large sea eagles casually standing on his lawn and took it they were responsible for the unusual parcel.
However, he discounted the birds were bizarrely skilled.
"I assume they did not carry the fish together, and also they did not fillet it," Dr Bishop said.
"There were very strong winds which could have acted in two ways; the eagles could have been assisted to travel further distance - the wind was coming from Myall Lakes - and wind gusts could have caused the large fish to twist in their talons causing it to release.
"Given the wind direction my bet is that they picked it on the edges of Myall Lakes near Bungwahl."
Given the wind direction my bet is that they picked it on the edges of Myall Lakes near Bungwahl.
- Keith Bishop
Dr Bishop's thoughts went immediately to sharing this valuable data to colleague, Dr Tom Grant, who studied platypus.
"He considered for years there was a possibility that sea eagles could predate on platypus," he said.
"Accordingly he is always interested in data which demonstrates the 'lift power' of eagles.
"I have sent him the details and I am sure he will return some interesting snippets."
An adult male platypus from south east Australia weighs approximately 1.3-1.8kg, clinching the possibility a sea eagle could grab the mammal and carry it off.
In 2004 Dr Grant witnessed a sea eagle grab a dead 2.5kg Australian bass from the Hastings River but it failed to get airborne.
It would appear then that their lift power is greater than 1.3 kg, but less than 2.5 kg.
Dr Grant noted that in mid 2007 at Lake Barrine near Atherton, northern Queensland there was a convincing journal record of a sea eagle taking a platypus - a quote from the journal article: "On the last swoop the platypus was hauled out of the water, then taken, wriggling, to the top of a tall tree where it was eaten."
Dr Bishop has since set up a scouting camera in an attempt to unravel the mystery appearance of the filleted blackfish accompanied by two sea eagles.
The next morning it revealed a follow-up crew of two large wedge-tailed eagles and Australian ravens.
By the afternoon all that remained of the blackfish was a scattering of scales on the ground.