US EditionSurprise shark caught on camera for first time in Antarctica’s near-freezing deep
The 3–4 meter sleeper shark was filmed at 490 meters deep in near-freezing Antarctic waters, possibly indicating climate-driven range shifts, researchers said.
- On Wednesday, the Minderoo‑UWA Deep‑Sea Research Centre at the University of Western Australia released footage showing a sleeper shark filmed in January 2025 off the South Shetland Islands near the Antarctic Peninsula.
- Sparse observations and few cameras explain detection gaps, as Antarctic research cameras operate only during Southern Hemisphere summer months and sleeper sharks remain hard to detect in remote, deep waters.
- At about 490 meters depth the camera recorded the photographed shark in 1.27°C water, with a skate motionless in frame, captured by the Minderoo‑UWA Deep‑Sea Research Centre.
- Alan Jamieson noted there was no prior Antarctic record of a shark, challenging experts who previously thought sharks were absent from Antarctic waters and expecting Antarctic sharks at similar depths feeding on carcasses.
- Scientists caution uncertainty over whether this reflects a range shift as Antarctic Ocean stratification to around 1,000 meters and seasonal camera coverage limit detection, prompting calls for more monitoring.
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Rare sighting: Shark caught on camera in some of world's coldest waters
It's long been believed that the waters of the Antarctic Ocean are too cold for sharks, but newly-released video contradicts that. A sleeper shark was spotted swimming along the sea floor there. Copy URL Save image Email Facebook Twitter / X Reddit Unbiased. Straight Facts.TM Pacific sleeper sharks can live for more than 200 years…
This video provides evidence of the presence of sleeping sharks in the cold waters of the South Pole. And to prove that these animals also live in Antarctica.
Until now, it was unknown that sharks had been found there.
Think there are no sharks in the Antarctic's freezing waters? Think again
An ungainly barrel of a shark cruising languidly over a barren seabed far too deep for the sun's rays to illuminate was an unexpected sight.Many experts had thought sharks didn't exist in the frigid waters of Antarctica before this sleeper shark lumbered warily and briefly into the spotlight of a video camera, researcher Alan Jamieson said this week. The shark, filmed in January 2025, was a substantial specimen with an estimated length of betwee…
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