Flying dogfish

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Flying dogfish surprise experts

Flying dogfish have been discovered at Blackpool Sea Life centre

Flying dogfish have been discovered at an aquarium.

The six baby dogfish, which are a species of shark, were being placed in one pool of water when when they leapt like a salmon into another pool.

Scott Blacker, senior aquarist at Blackpool Sea Life centre said of the nearly 400 species of sharks in the oceans only two are commonly associated with such "breaching" - the fast-swimming mako shark and the great white, which has been filmed launching clear of the water to snatch seals from the surface.

"In the wild new-born dogfish are at risk from a variety of predators including adults of their own species," he said, "so this salmon-like ability is probably a valuable defence mechanism."

"I was amazed. I'd never heard of dogfish doing anything like this, and no one else I've talked to has ever seen it before. Within the space of about 20 minutes all six had jumped out again."

Mr Blacker and his colleagues believe the trigger for the mighty leaps in this case is a cold current flowing into the pool they were first placed in.

This new-found knowledge about the unsuspected athletic abilities of baby dogfish will appear in the next issue of the Sea Life network's own biological newsletter The Fish Times.

"The great thing about this job is that you learn something new almost every day," Mr Blacker added.

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