An incredibly rare Megamouth Shark was caught off the coast of Shizuoka, Japan measuring 3.9 meters long (13 feet) and weighing 680 kg (1500 lbs). The distinctive feature of this seldom seen and largely unstudied shark is, as it's name indicates, it's huge mouth! There have only been 55 confirmed sightings, of which the first was only in 1976, off the coast of Hawaii! Read more details, view photos and videos from the post Rare Megamouth Shark Caught Off Japan's Coast, by National Geographic Weird and Wild, dated May 9, 2014.
Look at the size of this jaw! From this photo, you wouldn't even think this creature is a shark! But lest you get terrorized by this gape, Megamouth sharks are filter feeders, they feed on plankton, jellyfish and krill. Photo from the Independent of UK.
The internet is abuzz with news of this shark, and photos and articles abound. Other descriptions of the shark are that they have a disproportionally large head, it has a flabby body, while one described it's look as garish. One article used the news to talk about evolution (probably prodded by the looks of this creature) and the areas where Megamouth sharks have been seen as "hotbeds" for evolution, without having any proof or supporting arguments other than the sightings. Gladly the majority of news coverage focused on the facts.
Photo on the right and additional details can be seen from the Japan Daily Mail article.
I find it notable that it's only been three decades since the species has been recognized. The great depth at which MegaMouth Sharks operate undoubtedly contribute to the rarity of encounters with them. This one was caught at a depth of 2,600 feet.
And just a few days earlier, a rare Goblin Shark was caught in the Gulf of Mexico.
A rare goblin shark on the deck of a commercial fishing boat in the Gulf of Mexico, south of Key West, Florida. Photograph by Carl Moore. From the article Rare Goblin Shark Caught on Gulf of Mexico, May 5, 2014, National Geographic Weird and Wild.
I still can't get my head around the appearance of this shark. This looks like a shark straight from the movie franchise Alien! It has a nightmarish appearance, and even the teeth look like they're from a monster movie! This shark's size was estimated at 4.5 meters (15 feet), and it was caught at a depth of 2,000 ft.
The story of another rare fish - the Coelacanth.
The catching of these two sharks reminded me of another rare fish. The Coelacanth was believed by evolutionists to have evolved about 350 million years ago, and became extinct about 70 million years ago because it's fossils had vanished from rock layers believed to be younger than that age. Until scientists started seeing in 1938 that live Coelacanths were being caught off the coast of Madagascar, and learned that they were being sold by Indonesian fishermen for years!
Photo from the Answers in Genesis article that touched on Coelacanths.
What made the discovery of live Coelacanths so astonishing is that many evolutionists believed that the reason the Coelacanths disappeared from the fossil record is that they had evolved into land-dwelling tetrapods! They also believed based on the fossil record that man and the Coelacanth were never contemporaries. And yet they were caught in modern times, very much still - fish! And, existing alongside people! So in the case of the Coelacanth, the book of Genesis provides a better background for understanding practical science than the evolutionary story (that this fish lived alongside man; that fish didn't evolve into animals or man; see the linked articles for deeper discussions).
I just find it fascinating to learn about these discoveries, and especially to see how these discoveries align with God's Word, the Bible.
Let's keep discovering!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Look at the size of this jaw! From this photo, you wouldn't even think this creature is a shark! But lest you get terrorized by this gape, Megamouth sharks are filter feeders, they feed on plankton, jellyfish and krill. Photo from the Independent of UK.
The internet is abuzz with news of this shark, and photos and articles abound. Other descriptions of the shark are that they have a disproportionally large head, it has a flabby body, while one described it's look as garish. One article used the news to talk about evolution (probably prodded by the looks of this creature) and the areas where Megamouth sharks have been seen as "hotbeds" for evolution, without having any proof or supporting arguments other than the sightings. Gladly the majority of news coverage focused on the facts.
Photo on the right and additional details can be seen from the Japan Daily Mail article.
I find it notable that it's only been three decades since the species has been recognized. The great depth at which MegaMouth Sharks operate undoubtedly contribute to the rarity of encounters with them. This one was caught at a depth of 2,600 feet.
And just a few days earlier, a rare Goblin Shark was caught in the Gulf of Mexico.
A rare goblin shark on the deck of a commercial fishing boat in the Gulf of Mexico, south of Key West, Florida. Photograph by Carl Moore. From the article Rare Goblin Shark Caught on Gulf of Mexico, May 5, 2014, National Geographic Weird and Wild.
I still can't get my head around the appearance of this shark. This looks like a shark straight from the movie franchise Alien! It has a nightmarish appearance, and even the teeth look like they're from a monster movie! This shark's size was estimated at 4.5 meters (15 feet), and it was caught at a depth of 2,000 ft.
The story of another rare fish - the Coelacanth.
The catching of these two sharks reminded me of another rare fish. The Coelacanth was believed by evolutionists to have evolved about 350 million years ago, and became extinct about 70 million years ago because it's fossils had vanished from rock layers believed to be younger than that age. Until scientists started seeing in 1938 that live Coelacanths were being caught off the coast of Madagascar, and learned that they were being sold by Indonesian fishermen for years!
Photo from the Answers in Genesis article that touched on Coelacanths.
What made the discovery of live Coelacanths so astonishing is that many evolutionists believed that the reason the Coelacanths disappeared from the fossil record is that they had evolved into land-dwelling tetrapods! They also believed based on the fossil record that man and the Coelacanth were never contemporaries. And yet they were caught in modern times, very much still - fish! And, existing alongside people! So in the case of the Coelacanth, the book of Genesis provides a better background for understanding practical science than the evolutionary story (that this fish lived alongside man; that fish didn't evolve into animals or man; see the linked articles for deeper discussions).
I just find it fascinating to learn about these discoveries, and especially to see how these discoveries align with God's Word, the Bible.
Let's keep discovering!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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