Some people look at this and see a terrifying undersea monster with potrusible jaws like our old pal from Alien. I see my dog Izzy playfully tugging on my sleeve... after some sort of horrible experiment that mutated her into a nightmarish killing machine. Kidding kidding.
The goblin shark is a fascinating resident of the deep sea. They are most commonly associated with the waters around Japan where most specimens are recovered as by-catch from fishing trawlers. When a goblin shark finds its prey, it protrudes its jaws and uses a tongue-like muscle to suck the victim into its sharp front teeth.
Thanks to Bill Kang for forwarding along.
Life Science
Comments
If that's a submersible, that person must be a transformer.
It's still really cool footage, though, I remember just seeing pictures of goblin sharks when I was a kid. They're even weirder now that I've seen them in action.
Posted by: Laelaps | August 26, 2008 1:15 PM
I don't see what the big deal is, my grandpa does that with his teeth all the time. :P
Really neat, I hadn't heard of goblin sharks before.
Posted by: Zelly | August 26, 2008 10:25 PM
It's an evolutionary miracle! What an extraordinary animal. I really hope they aren't endangered - sharkfin soup fodder etc., etc.
Posted by: Hilary Minor | August 27, 2008 7:53 AM
That's...that's not RIGHT.
Posted by: Zach Miller | August 28, 2008 3:56 PM
Ahh! Yet another reason to never, ever go in the ocean!
(Sharks freak me out.)
Posted by: Leni | September 1, 2008 12:32 PM