A coelacanth photographed off the Comoros Islands
In 1938, on a sun-baked dockside in South Africa, a young museum curator was faced with an unusual problem. On a tip-off from the captain, Marjorie Courtney-Latimer had gone through the hold of a local trawler and now held the zoological discovery of the century quite literally in her hands.
Unfortunately, the nearly 2 metre long fish she was holding was not faring well. Just 2 days before Christmas, at the height of the South African summer, taxi drivers were reluctant to transport a large, decomposing fish. With everywhere stocked for the festive period, Marjorie was also unable to find a fridge large enough to store it.
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