HISTORY’S NOTORIOUS FUGITIVES
‘SHARON’ the stonefish has been caught after a monthlong operation but the Gold Coast City Council is not sure it has the right fish.
Cheers went up around Evandale Lake about 2.30pm yesterday when council workers found they had netted the fish.
The problem is no one is sure the stonefish is the same animal which was spotted in the lake by a member of the public on July 18.
“I am not certain,” Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate said.
“We caught this one. If there are other ones we are going to catch them.”
The stonefish was plucked from the lake on the fifth pass of nets which were dragged through the water after three days of lowering its levels.
The find came after Sea World divers and earlier netting failed to find the fish.
Cr Tate said James Cook University in Townsville had contacted the council with a request for the stonefish.
“They want to get the stonefish and milk it so they can look for an antivenene,” he said. “Looks like he has won a free trip to Townsville.”
Despite experts being unable to sex the fish, Cr Tate christened the it ‘Sharon’ after actor Sharon Stone.