Sonar finds mysterious figure on seafloor off Australia. ‘The legend is real’

A professional angler known as Trapman Australia is causing a stir on social media after sonar on his boat captured something that looks human standing rather triumphantly on the seafloor.

It didn’t take long for people to suggest he found the DC comics superhero Aquaman, the King of the Seven Seas.

Trapman Australia, also known as Jason Moyce, shared the eerie photo Wednesday, Jan. 22, on social media.

“I really hope it’s not a person I marked on the bottom of the ocean,” he wrote, stopping far short of an explanation.

His boat was a half mile off the port of Bermagui in New South Wales when sonar used for finding fish picked up the image.

It was at a depth of about 66 feet ... and Moyce did not report any dive boats nearby at the time.

“I really don’t know what exactly it is. But I’m thinking a school of fish ... pretending to be a human,” he told McClatchy News.

Moyce has nearly 300,000 followers on Facebook, and more than 1,000 offered reactions and guesses on the image.

“It’s Aquaman ... the legend is real,” Stephen Sibson posted.

“If you were using a live scan I’d be worried,” John Sanderson wrote.

“It’s a mermaid,” Bob Baldwin said.

Others took things more seriously, suggesting he may have solved a missing person’s case ... or a homicide ... and should contact the police.

“Could be someone in concrete boots,” Chris Ellis wrote.

This is not the first time Moyce has served up a mystery for social media to debate. In 2023, he reported catching a series of large fish that were bitten in half. The mega predator was never identified.

This story was originally published January 24, 2025 at 4:22 AM with the headline "Sonar finds mysterious figure on seafloor off Australia. ‘The legend is real’."