An unusual sighting emerged when a massive sleeper shark, resembling a barrel, was spotted meandering over a desolate seabed in the deep, sunless waters of Antarctica. Contrary to previous beliefs, researcher Alan Jamieson revealed that the shark, estimated to be between three and four meters long, challenged the notion that sharks were absent in the frigid Antarctic waters.
The intriguing discovery took place in January 2025 off the South Shetland Islands near the Antarctic Peninsula, within the confines of the Antarctic Ocean, also known as the Southern Ocean. The footage, captured by the Minderoo-UWA Deep-Sea Research Centre’s camera, showcased the shark at a depth of 490 meters, where the water temperature hovered near freezing at 1.27 degrees Celsius.
Accompanying the shark in the video was a motionless skate, a relative of sharks resembling a stingray, unfazed by the passing predator. Scientists had anticipated the presence of skates in the region due to their known distribution extending southward.
Jamieson, the founding director of the University of Western Australia’s research center, noted the absence of prior shark records in the Antarctic Ocean. Conservation biologist Peter Kyne supported this assertion, emphasizing the scarcity of data on shark movements near Antarctica, possibly influenced by climate change and warming oceans.
The sleeper shark’s presence at a depth of around 500 meters indicated a strategic positioning to access the warmest water layer on the seabed, where it likely scavenged on deceased marine organisms. Jamieson speculated that other Antarctic shark species could inhabit similar depths, capitalizing on the abundance of food sources such as whale and giant squid carcasses.
Due to the limited monitoring infrastructure in the Antarctic waters, surprises like the sighting of the sleeper shark are sporadic occurrences during the Southern Hemisphere summer months. The region’s complex water layers, stratified to approximately 1,000 meters, create an intricate ecosystem where marine life thrives in unique niches, awaiting further exploration during the brief research windows available.