Australia caught rare giant sharks after more than 80 years

Sharks that eat plankton that are more than 6 meters long are caught in fishing nets in southeastern Australia.

Giant sharks rarely catch Australian fishermen after more than 80 years

James Owen and his colleagues stumbled upon a giant shark on June 22 when fishing off Portland, Victoria. Instead of selling to a shark fin restaurant to profit, they decided to donate the fish to Victoria's Melbourne Museum.

Expert to measure fish length.(Photo: Melbourne Museum)

The giant fish is 6.3 m long, weighs 2 tons, has the sunfish shark, belongs to a very rare plankton-eating shark. According to ABC, the last time he caught him in the 1930s in Lakes Entrance, Victoria. The representative of the Melbourne Museum also confirmed that this is the third time in 160 years of catching sunfish shark in this area.

Dr. Martin Gomon, working at the Melbourne Museum and his colleagues was very excited about this discovery. They went to Portland to take the initial measurements and had to use a sharp knife to cut the fish into parts because it was too big, could not be transferred all at once. Before that, they had to use a crane to bring the fish from the boat to the ground.

"Such accidental discoveries can provide additional pieces of knowledge about sunfish shark. From there, support conservation and biological research on this species, " said Dr. Gomon said.

Sun shark has weak and thin jaws with tiny teeth.(Photo: Melbourne Museum)

Sunfish shark is the second largest fish in the world, behind the whale shark . The length of adults can reach 12 m. The name sunfish shark comes from the preferred behavior that exposes them to their warm waters.

Due to eating only plankton, sun shark throws a weak and weak jaw, with small teeth. This is what makes them different from predatory sharks . They often move slowly and gently under the sea.

Plankton-eating sharks are under threat from shark hunting for millions of dollars. Many European Union (EU), UK and international laws have been implemented to protect these fishes in some waters, but illegal hunting and trading activities continue to take place. .