You know what’s terrifying? The ocean. It’s dark, massive, and full of creepy creatures who look like they swam up from the depths of Hell. And as though we didn’t have enough proof our seas are blue nightmares full of demons, now we have to worry about encountering this rare shark that could double us as the jaw of a Xenomorph from Alien.
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In a story we first came across at National Geographic, five viper dogfish sharks (now that’s a name) were caught along the shores of Taiwan by a local research institute during a normal fish survey. But there was nothing normal about pulling these real-life monsters up in their net, because they are extremely hard to find. In fact, they were only first discovered in 1986 and have been hard to catch ever since.
These sharks, also known as Trigonognathus kabeyai, look exactly like the Xenomorph’s extended jaw, only if that had its own extended jaw to catch prey. While not much is known about them (possibly because their sleek bodies make it hard to keep them trapped in a net), they can be found near Japan, Taiwan, and Hawaii (so much for that as a honeymoon destination!). And they live at 1,000 feet below the surface, climbing to 500 feet during the day, so adjust your deep sea diving limits accordingly.
https://twitter.com/sofiabiologista/status/951599759369949185
One of the five actually was alive when they pulled it up, and they tried to get it back for study, only for it to die within a day. But as anyone who has ever seen the Alien movies can tell you, that doesn’t mean they won’t be back. They always come back. And just like in space, under water no one can hear you scream.
Will you ever go in the ocean again after seeing these sharks? Tell us how brave you are in the comments below.
Featured Image: CBS News/YouTube
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