I swear this is not the premise of a SyFy Channel movie: scientists have spotted three bioluminescent sharks off the New Zealand coast.
Yes, our planet is home to glow in the dark sharks.
(We’re gonna need a bigger glow in the dark boat.)
There are three different types of glowing sharks, too: the southern lanternshark, the blackbelly lanternshark and the kitefin shark.
All of these had been seen before, but this is the first time scientists have spotted them glowing.
They give off a faint blue glow while in full darkness.
Bioluminescence is definitely not new; lots of creatures create their own light to see, to find mates, to hunt and to protect themselves.
But scientists hadn’t seen this ability in larger sharks until they spotted these species.
And their theory is that the sharks may use their glow as camouflage, to disguise themselves to look kind of like sunlight shining in the water to potential predators swimming below.
They didn’t, however, rule out the possibility that they’re hoping that glowing will get them a starring role next time Discovery Channel does Shark Week.
Here’s some art worth shining a light on: Calvin Nicholls is making extremely detailed sculptures of animals out of paper.
And when I say extremely detailed, I mean extremely detailed: everything from cat whiskers, the tiny feathers on a baby chick, the look of satisfaction in a giraffe’s eyes when it sees other animals that aren’t as tall as it is…
Glowing sharks found near New Zealand (Inhabitat)
Intricate Paper Animals Spring from Textured Sculptures by Artist Calvin Nicholls (Colossal)
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Origami shark photo by yosuke muroya via Flickr/Creative Commons