A Perth man has pointed out an incredible detail in the Swan River, which has stumped long-time locals.
Perth’s iconic Derbarl Yerrigan was named the Swan River by Dutch explorer Willem de Vlamingh in 1697, in a nod to the famous black swans that inhabit the area to this day.
The West’s fixation with swans has since spread to the state’s flag and beer with much loved local drop, Swan Draught.
But an eagle-eyed West Australian recently took to an almost million-strong Google Maps-based Facebook group pointing out a truly eerie anomaly in the Swan River.
“This part of the Swan River in Western Australia is shaped like a swan … nothing to do with the naming of it,” Tyrone Park told the group Google Earth, Structures and Anomalies.
Lo and behold, the picture posted shows just that. The figurative swan’s tail begins at Narrows Bride, with the body going past the CBD and Langly Park before its curved neck wraps around Optus Stadium and Belmont Park, resting its beak on the Graham Farmer Freeway.
Numerous long-time locals revealed they never realised the stunning coincidence.
“Born and bred in Perth and never even noticed that,” one said.
“I am 40-years-old and never knew this either. Lived here all my life,” said another.
Local Aboriginal history in the area holds great significance for black swans, which are incorporated into the tradition of generational storytelling.
According to The Conversation, the Noongar people in WA have ancestral stories about white swans that suffered great harm at the talons of eagles.
In the Noongar tale, Maali, the proud and vain swan, had its feathers torn out by Waalitj, the eagle, as punishment, resulting in the swan turning black.