An underwater photographer was finally rewarded with a sighting of a rarely seen deep-sea fish when a chimaera swam in front of his camera off the coast of Vancouver Island, Canada.
“I’ve been wanting to film one of these amazing animals for a long time,” says underwater videographer Kolin Hansen from Getting Salty when sharing the exciting encounter on Instagram.
Also known as ghost sharks, these distant relatives of modern sharks and rays have been swimming through our seas for around 400 million years.
“To me, they look completely alien,” adds Hansen. “With massive eyes and skin like metallic armour, it searches the depths for its next meal.”
In the footage, the shimmering fish flaps its wing-like fins as it swoops along the seabed, probably looking for crabs, worms or sea urchins to snack on.
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Very few people are lucky enough to see chimaeras swimming in front of them like this.
“These beautiful fish usually thrive in the depths of the ocean 3,300ft (1,000m) deep,” says Hansen. He was lucky to spot this individual that had ventured into shallower waters, where they are occasionally seen.
Image and video credit: Kolin Hansen, gettingsalty.ca
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