MONTEREY, Calif. -- A strange looking shark made a brief appearance at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Wednesday after researchers captured it the prior evening in an underground canyon in Monterey Bay.

The shark has been returned ocean waters, but for a few short hours visitors to the aquarium got a glimpse of a unique creature.

The prickly shark rarely gets seen because it lives deep in the ocean.

"It's called a prickly shark because the skin has these little denticles that are prickly. It's almost like little rose bushes all along the surface and skin of shark," said veterinarian Dr. Mike Murray.

It garnered quite an audience as soon as it was put in the aquarium’s display tank. The shark measures 6 feet 8 inches long and weighs 189 pounds.

"He was amazing," said Lisa Aguilar a tourist visiting the Monterey Bay Aquarium from San Diego.

But as the morning wore on, marine biologists observed the shark was not doing as well as they had hoped. At times it was floating vertically, then it would float belly up near the surface.

"I thought it was perhaps in distress," said aquarium visitor Victoria Mulder. "My first thought was should it be here?"

After being on display for three hours, scientists at the aquarium made the call to pull the shark out of the tank. They did not want to risk the well being of the animal.

"We think it has to do with buoyancy problems. It's designed to be at depth," explained Dr. Murray. "We brought it to shallow surfaces and it just didn't float real well and wasn't able to make that adjustment in such a short time period."

A team of biologists worked to gently steer the shark near them. Divers then lowered a sling and brought him out of the water onto a stretcher.

"I feel lucky to see the scientists deal with it," said Peter Bartlett, who was visiting from El Dorado County. "I wish I got a closer look. That would have been pretty neat."

The shark was immediately put in a tank of oxygenated water and loaded onto a boat. Shortly after, it was taken to bay and released into the water.