The Coelacanth
A museum curator spotted a strange blue fish in a fisherman's catch, and it turned out to be a creature thought to have died out with the dinosaurs.
What was reported
The coelacanth was a fish known only from fossils, and scientists believed it had died out about 66 million years ago. On 22 December 1938, Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer, curator of a small museum in East London, South Africa, noticed a large, blue, oddly finned fish in a local trawler's catch.
She sent a sketch to the chemist and fish expert J.L.B. Smith, who identified it as a living coelacanth. A second species was found in Indonesia in 1997.
Explanations offered
This is a case where the extraordinary turned out to be true. The coelacanth lives in deep water around underwater caves, which is why it went unseen for so long. It is a reminder of why some people keep looking for animals that others say can't exist.
- When
- 22 December 1938
- Where
- East London, South Africa
- Witnesses
- Museum curator Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer
- Status
- Confirmed
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.