Creatures of the Deep: The Prickly Shark (Video)

Last Tuesday, researchers near the Pacific Rim found and captured a rare and strange looking deep-water shark known as Echinorhinus cookei or, more commonly, the Prickly Shark. Named so for the large thornlike spines located on its upper torso, little else is known about the prickly shark but that it is a bottom-feeder with two prominent dorsal fins and that it typically eats fish, squid, crustaceans and octopus as well as other sharks. This recent capture was only the second time in history the prickly shark had been captured, and it resulted in a brief stay at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, located in Southern California.

Placed on exhibit for only fifteen hours, the male shark – used to depths up to 3,000 feet – found the aquarium water too buoyant. A fact that resulted in the six-foot, eight-inch and 189 pound shark to flip upside down and then enter into a hypnotic state. It was after this that marine biologists on staff decided to release the shark back into the water.

So earlier today, the shark was brought back into the Pacific, on the the research boat Lucile, and then released back into the wild. Observers on board the ship reported a healthy swim and exit for the shark. But before that, in an effort to learn more about the mysterious shark, marine biologists had attached a small tag sensor to the shark. This tag will automatically release itself from the shark in six months time, but before then the sensor will record where the shark has traveled, how deep it swam and what the average temperatures of the water were. This information, scientists hope, will help them to learn a little bit more about the mysterious creature of the deep.