• Health
  • Science
  • U.S.
  • Technology
  • Business
  • World
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • Sports

Building a Better World

News and information

  • Home
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Our Team

Terrifying discovery off the coast of Portugal stuns scientists

November 13, 2017 By Dan Taylor

Terrifying discovery off the coast of Portugal stuns scientists

Researchers found a rare frilled shark, a prehistoric creature that lives up to 4,200 feet below the sea and was around during the time of the dinosaurs.

Scientists made a remarkable discovery off the coast of Portugal, as we reported recently, finding a rare frilled shark that has a terrifying appearance. But there’s so much more to this fascinating species that most people are not aware of, and scientists themselves didn’t know until recent years.

The frilled shark was found during a research expedition aimed at minimizing unwanted fish catches that was commissioned by the European Union. The frilled shark has been unchanged for virtually 80 million years, meaning it lived during the time of the dinosaurs, and humans rarely encounter them since they live 390 to 4,200 feet below the ocean waves. Scientists didn’t discover them until the 19th century.

Despite their fearsome appearance, frilled sharks have never attack humans, although they have sharp, jagged teeth that have caused some unintentional cuts on examination. This species was first seen in the wild back in 2004 off the southeastern United States coast, and Japanese fisherman found a sick one in 2007.

“Small numbers of frill sharks are caught incidentally by various deepwater commercial fisheries around the world, using trawls, gillnets, and longlines,” reads a Wikipedia excerpt. “In particular, it is regularly taken in Suruga Bay in bottom gillnets meant for sea bream and gnomefish, and in midwater trawls meant for the shrimp Sergia lucens. Japanese fishermen regard it as a nuisance, as it damages the nets. This shark is sometimes sold for meat or processed into fishmeal, but is not economically significant. Because of its very low reproductive rate and the continuing expansion of commercial fisheries into its habitat, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has previously listed it as Near Threatened, although the species was downlisted to Least Concern in 2016.”

Sharing

Facebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

Filed Under: Front Page, Science

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Follow Us

Facebookrss

Search:

Recent Posts

  • NASA’s InSight spacecraft makes important course correction May 26, 2018
  • Scientists outraged at latest Trump decision May 15, 2018
  • Huge uproar erupts over major incident at Utah park May 13, 2018
  • Incredible moon discovery stuns scientists May 12, 2018
  • Authorities shocked by discovery about common painkiller May 6, 2018
  • Outrageous crocodile experiment stuns scientists May 5, 2018
  • Great Barrier Reef is too quiet, scientists say May 1, 2018
  • Massive Hiroshima bomb discovery shocks scientists May 1, 2018
  • Earth will be slammed by massive asteroid April 29, 2018
  • Teens are doing something incredibly alarming in schools April 29, 2018
  • Huge discovery in Tasmania stuns scientists April 28, 2018
  • Shocking discovery in New Jersey stuns authorities April 22, 2018
  • Huge volcanic explosion could wipe out the United States April 21, 2018
  • Huge controversy erupts over world’s hottest pepper April 15, 2018
  • SpaceX is about to do something astonishing April 15, 2018

Copyright © 2019 Jones Kilmartin Group, LLC · Metro Pro Theme On Genesis Framework · WordPress