A living megamouse 6 meters "phantom shark" off the coast of Tokyo Bay, June 11, 17:29

k10012466941_202006111654_202006111655.mp4

On the 11th, a giant shark, "Mega Mouse," was found alive on a trapped net off Tokyo Bay in Tateyama City, Chiba Prefecture. Experts say, "It's very rare to see a picture of a living figure so clearly."

The mega mouse is a huge shark that has a large mouth that lives in the deep ocean such as the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean. The detailed ecology is unknown, and it is also called "phantom shark".

Around 5 a.m. on the 11th, a local fisherman found that a 6-meter-sized megamouse hung on a set net 800 meters offshore in Tateyama City.

A local diver filmed the scene underwater, and in the video, a megamouse slowly swung its large tail fin in a set net, swimming, and opening the big mouth from which the name came.

The megamouse was in good health, so he escaped from the set net in the morning.

Mr. Hiroyuki Arakawa, a local diver who shot the movie, said, “I have never seen a healthy person so far, and it was a rare opportunity.”

Masaki Miya, a senior researcher at the Chiba Prefectural Central Museum, who is familiar with shark ecology said, ``Mega mice are usually inhabited at a depth of about 200 meters, so it is very rare to see a living image so clearly. It's unclear why he appeared, but this time he might have been riding the Kuroshio for food."

The diver who took the picture

Hiroyuki Arakawa, who is a member of a group that photographed mega mice and runs a diving shop in Tateyama City, Chiba Prefecture, was contacted by a fisherman who I knew about a mega mouse on a fixed net around 5 am on the 11th. It means that I took a picture with my friends around 6:30.

Mr. Arakawa said that he had seen a figure of a megamouse on a set net, but at that time, it was the first time to see a figure swimming vigorously like this time in a weakened state.

Mr. Arakawa said, "I have never seen an energetic megamouse. I can't usually see him swimming, so I thought it was a rare opportunity. I couldn't see my teeth when I looked into my mouth. It was a lively and splendid appearance."

What is a mega mouse

The "Mega Mouse" is a huge shark with a large mouth that lives in the deep ocean such as the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean, and is said to be up to 7 meters in length.


According to Senior Researcher Masaki Miyaki of the Chiba Prefectural Central Museum, who is familiar with shark ecology, about 140 cases of megamouse have been found to have drifted to the coast or trapped in the net, including 25 in Japan. This is an example.

It is also rare to be found alive, and it is also called a "phantom shark" because the detailed ecology is unknown.

Three years ago, in the same city as this time in Tateyama City, Chiba Prefecture, a megamouse was protected by a fixed net, but the following day it was confirmed that it had died.

The dead mega mouse is collected by "Kamogawa Sea World" in Kamogawa City and is displayed as a rare skeletal specimen that is rare in the world.