Underwater camera films shark in Antarctic Ocean, thought to be a world first
Digital Camera World • • world
Key Points:
- For the first time, a sleeper shark has been captured on underwater camera in the Antarctic Ocean, recorded by the Minderoo-UWA Deep-Sea Research Centre near the South Shetland Islands.
- The footage was taken at a depth of 1,608 feet in near-freezing waters, revealing that sleeper sharks, typically found in the Pacific Ocean, also inhabit the Southern Hemisphere.
- This discovery challenges the previous assumption that sharks generally do not inhabit Antarctic waters, as noted by researcher Alan Jamieson.
- Ocean warming is suggested as a possible reason for the sleeper shark's presence in Antarctica, though limited deep-sea camera coverage and seasonal operation of equipment have made such sightings rare.
