Just outside of Tokyo in the shadow of Mt.
Fuji is a deep water frontier.
Where humans have made first contact with alien sharks.
Like the goblin shark, a terrifying mutant cousin of the Great White.
The megamouth, a giant that grows to lengths of 20ft.
And the weirdest of them all.
The frilled shark.
Described as a living fossil.
This prehistoric time traveler belongs to a line of sharks that goes back about 100
million years.
It looks and moves like a snake, rarely emerging from the abyss.
The frill shark hunts at depths of almost a mile, using its gaping mouth to swallow prey
whole.
What's alien about the frilled shark is just how ancient it looks.
It's not similar to anything in our world.
Nice to finally meet you.
Nice to meet you.
Scientist Marika Kadonaga is on a mission to make contact with this bizarre alien shark.
She's enlisted local expert Koji Ishigaki, who has caught frilled sharks in this bay
before. And Old Man of the Sea, Hasegawa San, who has been working these waters for
over 30 years.
Hasegawa San is known as the Shinkai pink Ojisan, which basically means he's the deep
sea pink grandpa.
And he promised me if he doesn't find me any alien sharks, he will retire tomorrow.
Marika and Koji Hope Hasegawa San can help them solve a mystery.
How has the frill shark survived for millions of years?
This alien is thought to be a weak swimmer, not capable of great speed.
Scientists think the key to its survival must be an efficient and deadly mouth.
The frill shark can open its jaws extra wide, using row upon row of inward facing
teeth to latch onto unsuspecting prey.
To investigate the mechanics of the frill shark's nightmarish jaws, the team has to
catch one.
Hasegawa San is seeking help from the Shinto spirits of Mount Fuji.
So.
Playful giving the future.
This Shinto tradition may have some basis in geologic fact.
Water from Mount Fuji plunges straight into Japan's deepest subsea trough over a mile
below the surface of Suruga Bay or so.
It makes Suruga Bay the only known place on the planet.
Frilled sharks rise from the abyss to within reach of human contact.
But still, Hasegawa San and his crew never know exactly what they'll find or when.
Tic TAC. Ah, yes.
Yes. Yes.
We just caught a kitefin shark, which is very, very exciting.
This is a true alien shark.
The Kitefin is a close relative of another fearsome alien, the Cookiecutter shark.
And they share the same terrifying teeth designed to carve chunks of flesh out of
prey.
That, combined with its really powerful jaws, makes it a deadly predator.
The Kitefin is thought to ambush animals as big as whales, taking a quick bite, then
retreating into the depths.
Okay. It looks heavy.
Oh, my God. They're ferocious.
They have very powerful bite.
Super sharp triangle teeth.
We see.
The. The shark teeth.
The Godzilla shark.
Oh, yeah, it looks. It looks like.
Deep sea sharks like the Kitefin have adapted giant mirrored eyes like a cat to see in the
darkness of the abyss.
The surface is an alien world to them.
What are we going to do now is sample it as quickly as possible before we return it to
the water. Time is really of essence.
Um, another one.
Um. The Chuck.
I'm like, Oh my God, what's going to happen?
Are we going to get a thrill shark?
It's rough.
Longnose Dogfish. Yes.
The rough Longnose dogfish has an elongated snout similar to the goblin shark.
Having a bigger, longer snout means they can detect prey in the darkness of the deep sea.
Better.
The team moves quickly to release the Kitefin shark.
Oh, there we go.
And bring the dogfish aboard.
As Koji transfers her to the observation tank.
He notices something astonishing.
Oh, hey, hey.
Come, come, come, come, come, come.
What do you mean?
The most unexpected thing ever.
Oh, yes. Oh, pumps.
Oh, my God.
It's an alien birth.
No one has ever seen a rough longnose give birth to pups on camera before.
Still with the eggs.
Each baby has a yolk sac that will be absorbed back into the body like a deflating
balloon. Once the shark has ingested all the nutrients, the.
Pups, can they survive?
Possibly, yes. But it's difficult.
Shark mothers do not take care of their young newborns.
Instinctively know how to survive alone.
Their gills are moving.
They're breathing and.
They're very much alive.
Yes. I'm just mesmerized, too.
Just like a tiny, tiny baby shark version of their mom.
Even alien shark babies are still really, really cute.
The mother gives birth to 20 pups in total.
It shatters the known record of litter size for this alien species.
We always thought they will have around 10 to 12 pups max.
So what we just saw basically rewrites science.
He became a shark midwife.
Yeah. Oh.
Oh.
In her quest to find a frilled shark, she's pulled up another alien, the Gulper shark.
Oh.
Not enough. Gulper.
Sharks are rarely seen around the world, but they seem to be so many here.
Right here in Suruga Bay.
Body is very slimy.
The gulper scales are Denticles are extremely smooth and tightly fit together.
It gives this alien a suit of armor, an adapted defense against a predator's grip.
Hot. Soon after the gulper is released back into the ocean, another strange shark is on
the line.
Because we have so many sharks at the same time.
The bird beak.
The bird beak is named for its pointy snout.
This streamlined profile may allow it to whip its head faster when snapping up prey.
This is really important for science because we see these so rarely.
Next up is a Leafscale gulper named for its sharp leaf shaped denticles.
It's one of the deepest living alien sharks in Japan, documented at depths of almost two
miles.
It's amazing to actually be able to see these animals.
Oh.
As each shark goes back into the water, another one comes up.
It's a roughskin dogfish.
A species we haven't caught so far.
The skin is very, very rough.
Wow. Its eyes are beautiful.
Most sharks rely on something called a nictitating membrane to slide across their
eye for protection, but not the rough skinned dogfish.
It's one of the very few sharks able to blink like a human to guard its giant green
eyes from harm.
It's amazing.
The legendary Hasegawa San has more than delivered on his promise to find alien
sharks. But the Holy Grail is.
Still out there.
This is giving me a lot of hope that we're going to find what we're looking for.
The frilled shark.