world

Russian fisherman's photos of the weird - and terrifying - deep sea creatures he catches go viral

Russian fisherman's photos of the weird - and terrifying - deep sea creatures he catches go viral
PUBLISHED ONDecember 22, 2016 2:46 AMByLydia Lam

MURMANSK - To Russian deep-sea fisherman Roman Fedortsov, bulbous-eyed fish and slimy slack-jawed creatures are commonplace.

But not so to most other people - pictures of strange and wonderful fish found in the deep waters off Murmansk, a port city in north-west Russia, have fascinated followers of his Twitter feed.

Mr Fedortsov, who works on a fishing trawler, started tweeting photographs of his hauls earlier this year, according to The Moscow Times.

The fisherman has more than 38,000 followers on his Twitter account @rfedortsov, where he posts pictures of weird fish that would not be out of place in an Aliens movie remake.

Not all are fans, though, as some netizens have accused him of unsustainable fishing practices and asking what happened to the fish he caught.

Wrote a commenter by the name of Threb on Daily Mail's report: "I would like to know just why it is necessary for these Russian trawler men to be dropping nets down thousands of feet to the sea bed where no light penetrates. Such zones are normally undisturbed by commercial fishing, which is precisely why these strange creatures have survived thus far."

Another commenter, Baader, added that "if they are fishing in the deep sea it's because the fish are scarce in the (shallower) waters".

Other commenters said the fish probably died as they were taken up from great depths, while yet others marvelled at the life in the seas.

Said a commenter with the username ALM2017: "In our deep oceans we have... an alien world. Very interesting and remarkable creatures."

Here are some of the unusual creatures photographed by Mr Fedortsov, as well as what they could be, according to the Daily Mail in a report on Wednesday (Dec 21).

1. A RATTAIL OR GRENADIER

2. A FRILLED SHARK

3. A BIZARRE CHIMAERA OR "GHOST SHARK"

4. A STOPLIGHT LOOSEJAW OR DEEP-SEA DRAGONFISH

5. A SEA SPIDER

6. A BLACK SCABBARDFISH

Here are other creatures photographed by the fisherman that have yet to be identified.

Read also:

Strange creature caught at Sentosa

Alien-looking creature caught in Sichuan

It's no hallucination, this creature is really weird

[[nid:143423]]

lydialam@sph.com.sg


This article was first published on Dec 21, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

This website is best viewed using the latest versions of web browsers.