Rare 18ft. six-gill shark filmed at 3300ft

I saw a story about this on nctimes.com this morning and looked up the video on YouTube. Pretty impressive. Surprised the heck out of the crew of the research sub that filmed it. What did they think would come around with all the ahi chunks they had out?

The video was taken from Hawaii Undersea Research laboratory's Pisces V submersible anchored 3,000 feet deep about two miles from Molokai.

The shark estimated to be 18 feet long with six gills is a deep-sea variety known as Hexanchus griseus.

source

they've been catching quite a few rare sea critters on film of late.
rare sharks, giant squid and oarfish have all been captured on film.

what I always love is the excitement these guys have when they catch these beasties on film. the vid you posted almost sounds like a porn dubbing session.

Great film footage. The deeper they go, the larger these creatures get. I can only imagine what is lurking down at the deepest depths of the world's oceans and seas.

It seems the shark gave the research sub a good bump and really startled the crew before they realized what it was.

It must have been pretty freaky to be a kilometer underwater out there and have that big shark come up on them. I would imagine they felt very small and vulnerable all of a sudden.

It does sound like they'd just experienced maximum pucker factor.

that is awesome, wonder why it has no top fin, maybe im seeing it wrong.

Originally posted by pickitandstickit
that is awesome, wonder why it has no top fin, maybe im seeing it wrong.

GOOD EYE! He does NOT have a primary dorsal fin. He only has the second one near the tail.

That's a big dude, and pretty interesting!

erm.. perhaps there isn't a main fin. I thought I saw it the first time but when I watched the video twice sure enough it doesn't seem to have the big fin.

Anyhow that is one cool looking beastie! Love the power he shows at the very end, imagine what it looks like hunting!

[edit on 9-2-2008 by Ionized]

reply to post by pickitandstickit


You and Valhall are absolutely right, it has no main dorsal fin, only the secondary one at the base of the tail.

Good looking out!

Off Hornby Island in British Columbia in about 80 ft of water you can dive with the 6 gill shark. I think its the only place to my knowledge where you can see these fish with your on eyes.

A fascinating note is that research subs have found huge white sharks swimming in depths similiar to where this video was shot.

Originally posted by DamnedDirtyApes
Great film footage. The deeper they go, the larger these creatures get. I can only imagine what is lurking down at the deepest depths of the world's oceans and seas.

meg is down there...she sez hi..and to stop polluting.

I really hope they keep hunting, this was a great find!!!!!

AWSOME video.... Thanx for the post!!!