Japanese marine park captures rare shark on film!

[SnuggleHam]

Here is the link...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070124/...shark_japan_dc

TOKYO (Reuters) - A species of shark rarely seen alive because its natural habitat is 600 meters (2,000 ft) or more under the sea was captured on film by staff at a Japanese marine park this week.
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The Awashima Marine Park in Shizuoka, south of Tokyo, was alerted by a fisherman at a nearby port on Sunday that he had spotted an odd-looking eel-like creature with a mouthful of needle-sharp teeth.

Marine park staff caught the 1.6 meter (5 ft) long creature, which they identified as a female frilled shark, sometimes referred to as a "living fossil" because it is a primitive species that has changed little since prehistoric times.

The shark appeared to be in poor condition when park staff moved it to a seawater pool where they filmed it swimming and opening its jaws.

"We believe moving pictures of a live specimen are extremely rare," said an official at the park. "They live between 600 and 1,000 meters under the water, which is deeper than humans can go."

"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.

The shark died a few hours after being caught.

Frilled sharks, which feed on other sharks and sea creatures, are sometimes caught in the nets of trawlers but are rarely seen alive.

There is an amazing video of it on YouTube you can watch. Wow.. I cant get over how prehistoric it looks. amazing things like this still exist.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mneDhOtVEQw

[souffle]

We saw that on TV in the UK last night. It does look prehistoric or a cross between an eel and a shark. Shame the poor critter died

[SnuggleHam]

Ya it is a shame it died. But I think thats why they found it in shallow water in the first place, it was probably already sick. At least we got a rare glimpse of it.

[Hana]

Yeh I saw it on the news too, It looks really strange. Its amazing! Sad it died

[babyboos]

I love marine creatures by far the most prettiest and conversely ugly things exists under the sea.