Rare megamouth shark dies in Bayawan City
By Rachelle Nessia
Dumaguete City (31 January 2006) -- Fishermen found a rare five-meter megamouth shark wounded and struggling to free itself from a net just off the coast of Bayawan City.
According to a report from Alex Pal, station manager of the National Broadcasting Network here, the shark was estimated to weigh one ton and was towed to the city's boulevard by the fishermen who immediately called the local Department of Agriculture.
However, the shark died before it could be set free.
An officer from the local DA office disclosed that this was the second reported sighting of a megamouth in Bayawan City and probably the seventh in the Philippines. The first megamouth shark stranding in Bayawan City was recorded on December 30, 2004.
The megamouth shark is reportedly so rare that it could be only the 35th recorded specimen in the world. It is so named because it has a huge mouth that extends behind the eyes. It is characterized by a distinctive white band on the anterior surface of the snout and has approximately 50 rows of very small and numerous teeth on each jaw, but only three rows are functional. (PIA)
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