A sleeper shark was recorded for the first time in deep waters off Antarctica, the 490 meters deep and at a temperature of 1.27°C. The animal, with estimated length between three and four meterswas filmed in January 2025 by a camera at the University of Western Australia, on the edge of the Southern Ocean, but was only released last Wednesday (18).
According to researcher Alan Jamieson, founding director of the research center linked to the University, there were no previous records of the presence of sharks so far south. The discovery goes against the prevailing perception among experts that these animals did not inhabit the icy waters of Antarctica.
The images show the shark moving slowly over a barren seabed, too deep to receive sunlight. In the same record, a stingray appears motionless on the ocean floor, without reacting to the predator’s passage. Unlike sharks, the presence of rays in this region was already known to scientists.
O filmed example remained at around 500 meters deeppossibly because it is the relatively warmest layer of water in a heavily stratified ocean, where cold, dense waters from the lower layers do not mix easily with fresh meltwater at the surface.
The university’s Minderoo Deepwater Research Center believes other sharks can live in this same depth range, feeding on the carcasses of whales, giant squid and other animals that sink after death.
“This changes what we know about the distribution of sharks and their ability to tolerate extreme environments. The Southern Ocean may not be as shark-free as we thought!”
