This question is inspired by the news article Huge sunfish washes up on Tasmanian beach.
A few months ago, I provided an answer to the question Why were Orca seemingly only prevalent in Northwestern Native Culture, and not Elsewhere? relevant to Australian history. However, while Orca were culturally significant to some Indigenous Australians and European settlers, how come the Ocean Sunfish (Mola mola) never received much attention, despite being so common in Australia that almost every Sydney-to-Hobart Yacht Race participant crashes into one?
The Ocean Sunfish has a distinctive, if not outright weird, shape. Its massive size and weight means that it can noticeably damage ocean-going vessels. It also has a habit of washing up on beaches, meaning that even cultures without seafaring technology would encounter it. It is found in temperate and tropical waters worldwide. And finally, all parts of the Ocean Sunfish are edible.
All these seem to be factors which would make the Ocean Sunfish become culturally significant. Are there any cultures where the Ocean Sunfish was culturally significant? If not, why not?
Hey there,
Just to let you know, your question is fine, and we're letting it stand. However, you should be aware that questions framed as 'Why didn't X do Y' relatively often don't get an answer that meets our standards (in our experience as moderators). There are a few reasons for this. Firstly, it often can be difficult to prove the counterfactual: historians know much more about what happened than what might have happened. Secondly, 'why didn't X do Y' questions are sometimes phrased in an ahistorical way. It's worth remembering that people in the past couldn't see into the future, and they generally didn't have all the information we now have about their situations; things that look obvious now didn't necessarily look that way at the time.
If you end up not getting a response after a day or two, consider asking a new question focusing instead on why what happened did happen (rather than why what didn't happen didn't happen) - this kind of question is more likely to get a response in our experience. Hope this helps!