Measuring 1.7 metres and weighing 77 kgs the catch seemed just like another good day's work. But the fishermen did not realise the significance of this otherwise rare catch. They had netted Coelacanth, until recently believed to have been extinct for more than 65 million years. This rarest of gems was accidentally caught off the Malindi coast in 2002. The catch was the first ever recording of this fish species in East African waters. Only a few museums around the world boast of having one.

The strange fish was initially put in the cold rooms of Wananchi Marine Products, a fishing company, after the capture by the crew of a boat called Venture at a depth of 85 metres. It was frozen until four months later when the owners decided to display it at the Mombasa show. It was at the show that scientists, who stumbled upon it, did a double take. The creature, which has already ignited great scientific interest in what other treasures lie in East African waters, is being preserved by the Department of Ichthyology at the National Museums of Kenya.

Until 1938 when a Coelacanth was discovered off the eastern coast of South Africa at the mouth of Chaluma River near East London, coelacanths were only known from ancient fossils, some dating back more than 360 million years. The Coelacanth takes its name from the Greek language for having a hollow spine in reference to its incompletely developed vertebral column. It has distinctive three-loped tails.