Astonished fishermen watched on as a super rare angelshark they had landed by mistake gave birth to seven babies on their boat.
Phone footage of the amazing moment shows the little nippers making straight for the protection of their mum to shelter underneath her.
Deep sea angler Serhat Sahbaz and his friends made the surprise catch as they fished for groupers off the Turkish coast at Nara Burnu.
But as they pulled one catch onto the boat, they were amazed to find they had hooked a 90-pound endangered angelshark instead.
Serhat Sahbaz/CEN
Then – as they were removing the hook from the shark’s mouth – she suddenly gave birth to seven offspring.
Serhat told local media: “I have been doing sport fishing for 10 years. I have fished in all of our own seas.
“About a week ago, four of my friends and I went to sea to catch coral and groupers.
“We were fishing with fake bait at a depth of about 30 metres [98 feet] off Nara Cape.
“A friend’s bait was in the water with me, we caught a fish. We felt it was a big fish.
“We both started to pull our fishing line. As the fish approached the surface of the water, we saw that it was an angelshark. We had to take the fish to the boat to get the bait.”
Serhat added: “We released the baby fish into the sea one by one.
“We also released the shark that gave birth back to the sea. It was an amazing feeling.
“When I did research, I learned that this fish, which is on the Red List, is among the endangered fish.
“We are very happy. I would also like to thank my teammates for their sensitive behaviour.”
The seasoned fisherman added that the tiny sharks would be able to fend on their own immediately after being born.
He added: “These will quickly grow into big fish anyway, so I don’t think it will be a problem. I hope they are swimming in the water now.”
The angelshark (Squatina squatina) has a flattened form with enlarged pectoral and pelvic fins, resembling a stingray.
Due to intense hunting and slow rate of reproduction, is has been listed as ‘critically endangered’ on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List.
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Story By: Simona Kitanovska, Sub-Editor: William McGee, Agency: Central European News
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