Massive fish-shaped rock appears in Saudi desert

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02nd Dec, 2022. 07:25 pm
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Photographer Khaled Al Enazi used a drone to take pictures of the fish-shaped rock formation in Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ula county.
“A photographer’s eye sees what people do not see,” he said.

It could have been a mirage in the shimmering heat of the Saudi desert, but photographer Khaled Al Enazi has the images to show he actually saw a huge fish-shaped rock coming from the sands.

While documenting the archaeological gems of Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ula county, a region noted for ancient structures that rival Jordan’s Petra city, Al Enazi used a drone to take pictures of the peculiar creation.

“A view of a mountain appeared in front of me while I was filming the area, its shape resembling a fish in the center of the desert,” said an email.

Al Enazi admits that he probably wasn’t the first to see the unusual rock formation, but he thinks that because of his vantage point from above, he was the first to notice its intriguing form.

“A photographer’s eye sees what people do not see,” he said.

The rock was appropriately called Desert Fish by the photographer.

The rock formation appears to be swimming through the golden sand in drone footage taken by Al Enazi in June of this year. Its dorsal fin-like formations also make it possible that a shark is surfacing from the depths to stalk its prey.

Al Enazi has had to disabuse intrepid social media users who believed the rocks are truly the remnants of a huge sea beast since his photographs were published.

“Some have mentioned that it is a real fish that was fossilized millions of years ago, but that’s not the case,” he said. “It is sandstone formed by many factors.”

More than 29,000 people have watched a video of Desert Fish that was posted in a tweet in July.

To chronicle the Al-Ula region and its fascinating nature, the photographer is currently working on building his own YouTube channel.

Al-Ula county, which spans almost 9,000 square miles (22,500 square kilometers), is home to one of the most stunning desert landscapes on earth.

At Mada’in Salih, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the ancient Nabataeans built their principal southern metropolis just north of the Al-Ula valley and carved magnificent tombs into rocky outcrops.

Al-rocks Ula’s have been sculpted by the environment into some startlingly sculptural and human-like shapes.
One particular rock, known locally as Jabal Al-Fil, is well-known for looking like an elephant.

Massive fish-shaped rock appears in Saudi desert

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