Fishermen from three villages in Cakaudrove are afraid of going back in to the waters after a hearing a frightening encounter one female fisherman had.
According to the reports, The woman,Ateca Disukavanua, was in waist-high water when she saw a 3 foot creature swimming towards her. She describes the create as having “flippers like that of a turtle and a strange long mouth”.
That was enough to scare the 50 year old woman. Ateca and other fishermen are not returning to the waters in fear that this creature might strike and kill one of them.
Full source: FijiTimes
A STRANGE looking marine creature reportedly spotted in lagoon waters of three villages in Cakaudrove are keeping fishermen and divers away from sea.
Naiqaqi Village headman Jepeca Nakuvu said villagers from the neighbouring village of Laucala and Valeni were scared of going out to sea because of the creature.
Ateca Disukavanua, 50, said she was fishing near a copse of mangrove called Dogodogo on Monday when she saw a black creature swimming towards her.
“At first I thought it was a log but then it moved closer and I was so scared because the water was up to my waist I jumped on top of a mangrove stump,” she said. “I hung on to that mangrove tree for about an hour and the creature, which was about three foot long, and had flippers like that of a turtle and had a strange long mouth.
“I had never seen such a thing before in my life. I was shaking because it kept hanging around as if it smelt the place where I was standing.
“I only got down when the tide went out and the water was only ankle high.”
Mr Nakuvu said men from the three villages armed themselves with cane knives, digging forks and spears and looked for the creature hoping to kill it.
“When we know it is dead we will go out to sea because we are scared because this is something that we are not familiar with,” he said.
The village headman said they had lodged a complaint at the Savusavu Police Station.
The story sounds like it could be a simple case of misidentification. Maybe a disfigured turtle, or an eel had made its way towards shallow waters. Then again I would like to think that a 50 year old fisherman would have more experience with marine life than a guy who’s extent of marine life involves the Sashimi and Yellow Tail rolls I order for lunch at my favorite Sushi place.
I was thinking about a possible explanation for these “turtle/eel” creature that was reported. I was looking around at marine life in the area and came upon an interesting piece of information.
A rare “prehistoric” shark has been seen alive in some of the islands around the world, including Fiji. The “Frilled Shark” is one of those rare creatures that live thousands of feet underneath the water’s surface. A menacing looking animal, it has only been spotted a few times by fishermen and divers.
Source to picture and article: Blerp.com
Flaring the gills that give the species its name, a frilled shark swims at Japan’s Awashima Marine Park on Sunday, January 21, 2007. Sightings of living frilled sharks are rare, because the fish generally remain thousands of feet beneath the water’s surface.
Spotted by a fisher on January 21, this 5.3-foot (160-centimeter) shark was transferred to the marine park, where it was placed in a seawater pool.
“We think it may have come to the surface because it was sick, or else it was weakened because it was in shallow waters,” a park official told the Reuters news service. But the truth may never be known, since the “living fossil” died hours after it was caught.
Can it be possible that the Frilled Shark (Chlamydoselachus anguineus) made its way through nearby waters, into the villages of Cakaudrove?
According to the Wikipedia information on the Frilled Shark; it could be a great possibility.
Here are the known habitats of the shark:
Fiji being close to the Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand; I can only assume that these sharks can very well swim the underground currents of the Southern Ocean and into the island of Fiji.
Chlamydoselachus anguineus
