'Exciting encounter' with endangered shark in bay

The Angel shark was filmed on a seabed video camera in Cardigan Bay

One of the world's rarest sharks has been caught on camera in Cardigan Bay for the first time in four years.

Sarah Perry, a marine conservation and research manager with the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales, said she was "thrilled" by the "rare and exciting encounter" with the angel shark which lives and hunts on the seabed.

Critically endangered, the species was filmed on an underwater camera being used to study a group of bottlenose dolphins that make their home off the Welsh coast.

The angel shark was common across the east Atlantic and Mediterranean seas but has declined because of a number of threats, including habitat disturbance and accidental fishing catch.

A juvenile angel shark was caught on camera in September 2021 in Cardigan Bay.

Ms Perry said the latest sighting "comes at a crucial time, as the Senedd and UK government discuss a ban on bottom trawling in marine protected areas".

"These findings highlight the urgent need to protect these fragile habitats from damaging activities like bottom trawling," she said.

Angel sharks, known as a "flat shark", spends much of the time camouflaged in the sediments on the seabed, where they lie in wait for fish.

In 2019, experts said sightings suggested Wales could be a key habitat for the angel shark which has had a stronghold around the Canary Islands.