IMPOSSIBLE LOVE

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Zanzibar fishermen land ancient fish

Sun Jul 15, 2007 5:40pm BST

ZANZIBAR (Reuters) - Fishermen in Zanzibar have caught a coelacanth, an ancient fish once thought to have become extinct when it disappeared from fossil records 80 million years ago, an official said on Sunday. Researcher Nariman Jidawi of Zanzibar's Institute of Marine Science said the fish was caught off the tropical island's northern tip. "The fishermen informed us they had caught this strange fish and we quickly rushed to find it was a coelacanth," he told Reuters, adding that it weighed 27 kg (60 lb) and was 1.34 meters long.

Although one of the fishermen felt soon in love with the fish, it was placed in an appropriated tank at Zanzibar's Institute of Marine Science and since now a thick glass (2.5 inches) will move them apart.