Mysterious Arctic shark got lost and ended up in the Caribbean: scientists

• This shark has been found in the Caribbean, thousands of miles from its usual habitat in the Arctic.
• The Greenland shark, which ranges between 250 and 500 years old, has surprised researchers in Belize.
• “It looked like something that existed in prehistoric times,” said the biologist.

Biologists were stunned when they found a mysterious shark living in cold waters thousands of miles away from its natural habitat. According to a recent marine study. The Greenland shark – the longest-lived vertebrate on Earth – was discovered in the tropical Caribbean Sea.

A recent study reported that researchers were tagging and temporarily hunting tiger sharks off the coast of Belize when they encountered the mystery shark. published In the Science Journal of Marine Biology.

After locating a line on protected Glover Island atoll in Belize while observing and researching tiger sharks, biologists returned to find that their line had moved several miles from the reef into waters up to 2,000 feet deep.

When they retrieved their scientific catch, they were amazed to find an ancient Greenland shark. “It looked very old,” commented one of the researchers, Hector Daniel Martinez, emphasizing its deep-sea habitat.

At first, scientists suspected it might be a six-gilled shark, a dominant deep-sea predator, but upon photographing the rarely seen animal, they confirmed its identity as “probably” a Greenland shark.

“We suddenly saw a very slow, slow creature underwater,” Devanshi Kasana, a biologist and Ph.D. candidate in the Laboratory of Ecology and Predator Conservation at Florida International University, Mashable reported. “It looked like something that existed in prehistoric times.”

Greenland sharks are the longest-lived vertebrates on Earth, with a staggering lifespan of 250 to 500 years. According to the National Ocean Service.

Sharks live thousands of feet underwater in complete darkness, are rarely seen or photographed, and few details are known about their incredibly long lives. And in the depths of the water they grow, move and age slowly. Their slow, energy-conserving lifestyle is a primary adaptation to the nutrient-scarce deep sea.

Finding a Greenland shark near a coral reef off Belize was unexpected, but believable. These mysterious sharks thrive in the depths of the Arctic seas and may inhabit other regions of the deep ocean, including the Caribbean.

The nearby reef slope reaches depths of up to 9,500 feet, providing a cool, dark environment suitable for Greenland sharks.

This discovery raises questions about whether this particular Greenland shark migrated to the Caribbean from Arctic waters or if it spent most of its life in the depths of tropical waters in the region.

The question remains unanswered, but there is a strong possibility that more of these mysterious creatures roam the dark depths of the Caribbean, hidden from our eyes. “I doubt it’s the only one,” Damian Chapman, director of shark and ray conservation research at Mott Marine Laboratory and Aquarium, told Mashable.

“They have to wait over 100 years to have sex”

The depths of the sea are still largely unexplored, and the discovery of this Arctic shark is a reminder that the ocean and its biosphere is little known.

Study 2020 It has been determined through genetic analysis that there are two geographically separate populations of Greenland sharks: one group swims near the Baffin Basin in Canada, above the Arctic Circle, while the other occupies the waters of the North Atlantic Ocean between Nova Scotia and Svalbard, near Norway.

Greenland sharks are primarily scavengers, eating everything (dead or alive), including Fish, seals, polar bears and whales.

Some can reach 24 feet in length and weigh up to 2,645 pounds (1,200 kg), though they only grow up to 0.4 inch (1 cm) per year.

According to a 2016 studyGreenland sharks do not reach sexual maturity until they are at least 134 years old.

“They have to wait over 100 years to be able to have sex, and I’m sure they’re not happy about it,” says Julius Nielsen, one of the authors of the study. He told New Scientist magazine in 2016.