Cat shark sucks at being a shark; gets owned by crabs repeatedly

Video: Cat shark sucks at being a shark; gets owned by crabs repeatedly

New video from the deep-sea explorers aboard the Nautilus shows an unorthodox encounter between crabs and a shark that had the researchers chuckling with bewilderment.

Not only does the video capture repeated showdowns between two ocean predators, it gives non-seafaring folk a rare look at the dark depths of the Pacific Ocean, where the researcher crew's remotely operated vehicle dove, armed with bright lights and a video recorder.

It's those lights that the crew blames for the strange behavior.

"We think the cat shark was possibly dazed by the lights on the [remotely operated vehicle] Hercules, and that's how it came to drift into the crabs and cause the defensive behavior," said Susan Poulton, spokesperson for the Nautilus Crew. "Normally you wouldn't see that type of interaction as the shark would be more aware of its surroundings."

RELATED: Rare sperm whale caught on tape by Gulf researchers aboard Nautilus

The video shows two cat sharks—a smaller breed—drifting over a sandy seabed peppered by massive crabs. Repeatedly, the sharks brush against the ornery crustaceans and earn themselves a quick nip from the powerful claws.

Researchers aboard the Nautilus exploration vessel send a remove vehicle into the dark depths of the Pacific ocean, off the coast of California, and caught rare footage of testy crabs fending off a cat shark. They thing the vehicle lights induced the strange behavior in the shark, which usually wouldn't drift into clawed crabs. less Researchers aboard the Nautilus exploration vessel send a remove vehicle into the dark depths of the Pacific ocean, off the coast of California, and caught rare footage of testy crabs fending off a cat shark. ... more Photo: Ocean Exploration Trust Photo: Ocean Exploration Trust Image 1 of / 24 Caption Close Cat shark sucks at being a shark; gets owned by crabs repeatedly 1 / 24 Back to Gallery

That's just the latest scene of marine majesty captured by the Nautilus crew, an ongoing expedition funded by the Ocean Exploration Trust, a project of Titanic-discoverer and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Robert Ballard. The tech-savvy operation has garnered Internet attention with rare videos of ghost sharks, dumbo octopuses, a sunken Nazi submarine and seldom-seen life at hydro-thermal vents below the Galapagos Islands.

RELATED: Nautilus crew shows what's under the Galapagos Islands

After more than two years of exploration the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea, the Nautilus split for the Pacific, through the Panama Canal, and now brings findings from off the continent's western seaboard.

The cat shark and crabs were seen off the California coast.