This photo taken on Monday, March 30, 2009, by Elson Aca, World Wildlife Fund – Philippines, at the shores of Donsol town, in the Sorsogon province, central Philippines, released by the World Wildlife Fund, shows a very rare dead megamouth shark. Fishermen have caught and eaten the megamouth shark, one of world’s rarest fishes, since there are only 40 others recorded, the World Wildlife Fund said.
The 4 meter (13 foot) long megamouth shark trapped on March 30 by fishers near Donsol, Philippines, was only the 41st megamouth shark ever recorded to be found, stated the WWF-Philippines office.
The strange fish, which died during its capture, was presented to local project manager Elson Aca of WWF by the fishers. Aca at once recognized it as a megamouth shark and asked the fishers not to eat it. Nonetheless, shark meat constitutes a key ingredient of some Philippine delicacies, so the 500 kilogram (1,102 pound) shark was slaughtered to cook a recipe called quinuout.
The megamouth shark was discovered in Hawaii in 1976. After the discovery, scientists had to create an entirely new family and genus of sharks. The megamouths are quiet filter-feeders with wide mouths. The shark presented a tag that said "Megamouth 41", so it was the 41st megamouth documented by the Florida Museum of Natural History. It was the eighth to be reported in Philippine seas. The shark is so uncommon that the International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the megamouth species as "data deficient."
Other shark species around Donsol are appreciated for protection rather than for eating: The area has a successful ecotourism plan that permits people to swim with whale sharks, according to WWF.
Others megamouths have been encountered in California, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, Brazil, Ecuador, Senegal, South Africa, Mexico and Australia.
