Tangaroa 2003

A deep-sea research ship, the Tangaroa, probed the Tasman Sea for a month last year, snaring 500 species of fish and 1 300 species of invertebrates that are now being studied by scientists around the world.

The project, funded by Australia's National Oceans Office and New Zealand's Ministry of Fisheries, uncovered weird and wonderful sea dwellers including fish with tongues covered in teeth and fish with hinged teeth that enable them to swallow large meals. The 24 researchers aboard the ship also found the fossilised tooth of an extinct megalodon - a shark twice the size of the feared white shark. Full story - The Star (March 2004).