Images Of Rare Shark Captured On Film Wednesday January 24, 2007
With its large, eel-like form and mouthful of razor-sharp teeth it looks like a creature from a horror movie.
But the species of rare shark captured on film by Japanese marine park staff this week was nothing if not real.
A fisherman spotted the 1.6-metre-long creature on Sunday and alerted staff at the Awashima Marine Park in Shizuoka, south of Tokyo. They caught it and subsequently identified it as a female frilled shark, a species humans rarely see alive because it resides in waters 600 metres or deeper.
"We believe moving pictures of a live specimen are extremely rare," said a park official. "They live between 600 and 1,000 meters under the water, which is deeper than humans can go."
Video of the shark was taken at the park after staff moved it to a seawater pool. They filmed it swimming around for a while, but it died a few hours after being caught.
Experts believe the shark was ill or disoriented.
"We think it may have come close to the surface because it was sick, or else it was weakened because it was in shallow waters," the official said.
Frilled sharks feed on other sharks and various sea creatures. They're sometimes caught by fishing trawlers, and when that happens they're used as fish food.
They're referred to as "living fossils" because their species hasn't changed much since prehistoric times.
I saw that this morning on CP24, that is freaky.
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Images Of Rare Shark Captured On Film Wednesday January 24, 2007
With its large, eel-like form and mouthful of razor-sharp teeth it looks like a creature from a horror movie.
But the species of rare shark captured on film by Japanese marine park staff this week was nothing if not real.
A fisherman spotted the 1.6-metre-long creature on Sunday and alerted staff at the Awashima Marine Park in Shizuoka, south of Tokyo. They caught it and subsequently identified it as a female frilled shark, a species humans rarely see alive because it resides in waters 600 metres or deeper.
"We believe moving pictures of a live specimen are extremely rare," said a park official. "They live between 600 and 1,000 meters under the water, which is deeper than humans can go."
Video of the shark was taken at the park after staff moved it to a seawater pool. They filmed it swimming around for a while, but it died a few hours after being caught.
Experts believe the shark was ill or disoriented.
"We think it may have come close to the surface because it was sick, or else it was weakened because it was in shallow waters," the official said.
Frilled sharks feed on other sharks and various sea creatures. They're sometimes caught by fishing trawlers, and when that happens they're used as fish food.
They're referred to as "living fossils" because their species hasn't changed much since prehistoric times.
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Knock people down at their own expense, they'll take it as a compliment!!!!