14 DAY TRIAL // Wildlife researchers have recently announced the discovery of a new walking shark species.
The sharks inhabit Indonesian waters near the island of Halmahera, and adult specimens measure merely 27 inches (68.5 centimeters) in length.
They aren't aggressive, and do not constitute a threat to humans.
The sharks use their fins to crawl along the sea floor and sneak up on their prey. This behavior is fairly peculiar, and researchers say that, whenever they do so, the sharks look like there are walking.
Check out the video below to see what they mean.
Sources say that, shortly after being discovered by science, the species was dubbed Hemiscyllium halmahera.
Interestingly enough, people living in this part of the world had long been aware of the existence of this species of sharks.
“Local indigenous communities have been aware of the shark for many generations – but it only came to the attention of science once diving began to take off in the region,” researcher Mark Erdmann explains.