Rare megamouth shark surfaces in CDO waters

A 12-foot-long specimen of the very rare megamouth shark was found dead off Barangay Bayabas in Cagayan de Oro City last weekend.

 

The shark got tangled in the net of fisherman Jojo Cabatuan last Saturday, GMA Northern Mindanao reported Monday.

 

"Kung iiwan naming sa dagat, mangangamoy lang din yan.  Ngayon lang ako nakakita ng megamouth shark sa 38 years ko bilang mangingisda," said Cabatuan.

 

Local residents buried the shark, as shown in a photo by GMA Northern Mindanao's Kaye Mercado:

 

 

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources said the megamouth shark is a deepwater-dwelling shark.

 

It said the shark found last Saturday measured 12 by two feet, and weighed about one ton.

 

BFAR experts theorized the shark may have been looking for food and got near the surface.

 

Meanwhile, some wounds were found on the shark's body, which may have been caused by it getting tangled in the net.

Previous sighting off Albay
 

Last January, a megamouth shark measuring 15 feet died off Albay. Due to its rarity, the creature caused a sensation among locals and the scientific community alike.

The shark was believed to have died after it was trapped in a fishing net for several hours at Barangay Marigondon in Pio Duran town, GMA News stringer Michael Jaucian reported.

 

Photos posted by GMA Bicol's Maila Aycocho on Twitter showed the megamouth shark's remains preserved in ice:

 

Nakababad sa yelo an lawas kan Megamouth Shark na nakua sa Pioduran Albay kansuudma. #24OrasBikol pic.twitter.com/aQATRzprtA

— maila aycocho (@MailaAycocho) January 29, 2015

 

The megamouth shark is one of the rarest sharks, discovered only in 1975 and with just a handful of documented sightings since then. — Joel Locsin/TJD, GMA News