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Prehistoric frilled shark found off Japanese coast
Not satisfied with catching a shark that makes Jaws look like a tadpole last week, a “prehistoric” shark has been found off the coast of Awashima in Shizuoka on Sunday. Don’t worry - Godzilla has been put on alert by the Japanese SDF incase any more of those things decide to come up! These sharks are usually found at depths of 600-1000m/1800-3000ft and are around 1.6m/5ft in length. As you can see from this picture, it looks like a bizarre combination of a shark and an eel. Maybe the name “sheel” would have been better than it’s real name of a frilled shark, or Chlamydoselachus anguineus.
First of all, I have to give credit to Reuters for these images (don’t want to be taking credit for the work of others). I haven’t found any new information about this shark, so what I tell you is only from news articles I’ve managed to locate. So apparently this shark has not evolved since prehistoric times, which is why it is so exciting to marine biologists. Plus there is the fact that it is so rarely seen, limiting itself to depths that virtually none of us will ever descend to. As a diver I’ve been down to 46m and that is pretty deep. Now if you imagine over 20 times that depth, then you will be close to the water that this shark lives in.
The shark itself was actually found in the shallows by a fisherman. Scientists aren’t yet sure why it was in water so shallow, but it obviously had a problem (illness or injury would be suspected, although there appeared to be no signs of external damage to its body). The fisherman who spotted it had an initial thought of “What in the name of prehistoric marine life is that?!” and called a local marine park who came to take a look at it. It was transferred to a seawater aquarium (you didn’t think they’d leave it where it was, did you?!) where it died shortly thereafter.
An amazing discovery, and I hope you like these pictures I managed to find for you. If you have any more info on this shark, I’d love to hear it. Take care, dive safely, and look out for “sheel”s on your next dive!!!
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How cool! A giant giant giant eel with a funny head. (Technical description!) Try not to get close enough to one to take your pwn pics Dave!
Bim x