Rare Megamouth Shark caught in Philippines | Megamouth 41
Rare Megamouth Shark was accidentally caught in the Philippines. Fisherman from Donsol, Philippines caught a strange-looking shark from a depth of approximately 200 meters, which are also frequented by the endangered whale shark.
The 1,100-pound (500-kilogram) 13-foot (4-meter) megamouth died while struggling in the fishermen’s net last March 30 off Burias island in the central Philippines. The said megamouth shark was taken to nearby Donsol in Sorsogon province, where it was butchered and eaten.
Image via www.wwf.org.ph
The fish was tagged “Megamouth 41″, as named by the Florida Museum of Natural History.
Eight megamouth sharks have now been caught in Philippine waters. Four in Cagayan de Oro, and one each in Negros, Iloilo and Cebu. And the recent was the Megamouth 41 in Luzon. The first megamouth was discovered in Hawaii in 1976 about 25 miles off the coast from Kaneohe, Hawaii when it became entangled in the sea anchor of a United States Navy ship, prompting scientists to create an entirely new family and genus of sharks. Others megamouths have been encountered in Hawaii, California, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, Brazil, Ecuador, Senegal, South Africa, Mexico and Australia.
April 7th, 2009 at 9:02 pm
Wow.. Sharks are going over to the Philippines to visit.. Too bad, they have to be served as dinner when they do so.. Hope the next one won’t be eaten..