Laurent Ballesta's Image

A coelacanth stares calmly into Laurent's lens, 120 metres below the surface of Sodwana Bay, on the east coast of South Africa.

Diving technology and years of careful preparation enabled Laurent and his team to spend 15 minutes with the fish. 'It was neither curious nor afraid,' he says, 'just peaceful.'

A scientific marvel, coelacanths, sometimes called fossil fish, were thought to have gone extinct around 80 million years ago, long before the disappearance of the dinosaurs. But in 1938, a living population was uncovered after one was caught in a trawl net at the mouth of the Chalumna River, South Africa.

A second population was later uncovered off the Comoro Islands. While this was a ground-breaking 'discovery' for Western science, the fish were a common sight among the local population who call them gombessa.

These critically endangered fish - up to 1.8 metres long - have unique traits including lobed fins that move in a similar way to the limbs of four-legged animals, a hinged skull for a very wide gape and an electroreceptor organ.

Today there are only three known populations of coelacanths in the world. Their mysterious history makes them highly sought after by aquariums and private collectors, threatening their survival.

How you can help

• Coelacanths can be killed when they are caught accidentally by commercial fishing nets and then discarded. Ensure the fish you eat is sustainably caught to enable over-fished ecosystems to recover.
• Climate change and plastic pollution are affecting even the most remote areas of our ocean. Reduce your plastic use to lessen human impact on deep-sea habitats.
• Read more about the fish that 'outdid' the Loch Ness Monster and talk to your family and friends about these threatened species.