[Stoat]

Under The Ice Lurks A 'Strange' Arctic Monster

 

 

Sharks in the News

Under The Ice Lurks A 'Strange' Arctic Monster

May 6, 2008

Release from: Tom Spears
Ottawa Citizen (Canada)
 

Canadian fish scientists are opening a window into the mysterious world of the Greenland shark -- the top predator in the Canadian Arctic about which almost nothing is known.

Except this, says Steve Campana of the Bedford Institute of Oceanography: "These are very, very strange sharks."

Its meat is poison. Its mouth is far under its body. It has almost no spine. It's so lethargic that it doesn't even snap at the scientists who hook it and attach a radio to it.

And it may live 200 years.

Mr. Campana and Aaron Fisk of the University of Windsor took their team to the sea ice 300 kilometres north of Iqaluit, camping out in a frigid plywood shed in April to tag and release Greenland sharks.

Only one other big shark in the world is almost unknown -- the extremely rare deep-ocean "megamouth."

Why study the Greenland shark?

In the eastern Arctic "this is the apex (top) predator, the king of the food web, along with the polar bear. There's a sister species in the western Arctic. And as with any ecosystem, if you don't know anything about the apex predator, you're in a lot of trouble figuring out what's going on."

Everything about this fish is odd, Mr. Campana says.

"They are really the antithesis to the fast-swimming great white and mako (sharks)."

The cold water might make them slow, but even in warmer water they just cruise along the bottom, slurping up fish, and occasionally seals. The seals may be dead when the sharks eat them. No one really knows.

Researchers are hoping that samples of bone may hint at a fish's age; the team will look for radioactive elements released during atmospheric tests of nuclear weapons, to show which fish were alive in the 1960s.

The Greenland shark can grow to eight metres and has hundreds of sharp teeth.

"Just running your hand lightly along them you can slice yourself wide open," says Mr. Campana.

"When we found a dead shark we would open up its stomach. Every single one was jam-packed with food. A lot of it was large fish," but there were some baby seals.

It's possible the shark scavenged dead seals, but seals are also known to be curious, and some young ones may have wanted too close a look at the shark.

The sharks are incredibly abundant, says Mr. Campana, "and yet we don't have a clue how fast they grow, how old they get, where they give birth, how many they give birth to..."

The team is using radio tags, which don't hurt the sharks, to record information about their living conditions (water temperature and light) and location. The tags are programmed to release months later and then "pop up" to the surface and radio their findings to a satellite.

Inuit fisherman often catch them by accident, hooking a turbot that a shark then bites on the hook.

The meat is poison if cooked like normal fish, so full of urea that it takes boiling and re-boiling to make it safe.

[central_va]

They are cannibalistic but their flesh is poisonous to any other creature.

This applies to lawyers also.

[Stoat]

“Mysterious Huge Seal-Sucking Arctic Shark Ping”

[ryan71]

???New to me!

[the_devils_advocate_666]

What’s that thing hanging off the shark’s eye?

[PBRSTREETGANG]

“Boffins”? What are boffins?

[ushr435]

Nice photo of Hillary! She’s looking much better since she suspended her campaign :-) Course, she’s still poisonous to others.

[ikka]

Shark is being represented by American Trial Lawyers Assoc. at no charge - a professional courtesy.

[Disturbin]

[nuconvert]

I believe these are called Sleeper sharks

[TexasCajun]

Seals slide into ocean due to global warming melting Arctic ice cap - Sharks Delighted!

[DungeonMaster]

ping

[willgolfforfood]

"Big sucker, the shark."

Big hitter, the Lama.

[Conspiracy Guy]

These sharks suck.

[aft_lizard]

The meat is poison if cooked like normal fish, so full of urea that it takes boiling and re-boiling to make it safe. Or you could take the Icelander route and let it rot for months on end.

[Clint N. Suhks]

[Sax]

Yesterday, (7/10) in New Smyrna, FL

http://www.wftv.com/news/16846313/detail.html?taf=orlc news link & more photos

[SunkenCiv]

· join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic ·
	Gods Graves Glyphs	Thanks Stoat. A massive Arctic shark that sucks up seals whole and may live for 200 years is being studied by boffins for the first time... Baffled boffins say whole reindeer and polar bear heads have also been found in stomachs of the deep-sea monsters, which can be 26ft long. They are cannibalistic but their flesh is poisonous to any other creature. "Baffled Boffin" would make a great ID. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. GGG managers are Blam, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach
· Google · Archaeologica · ArchaeoBlog · Archaeology magazine · Biblical Archaeology Society · · Mirabilis · Texas AM Anthropology News · Yahoo Anthro & Archaeo · · History or Science & Nature Podcasts · Excerpt, or Link only? · cgk's list of ping lists ·

[Tallguy]

Why study the Greenland shark?

In the eastern Arctic "this is the apex (top) predator, the king of the food web, along with the polar bear. There's a sister species in the western Arctic. And as with any ecosystem, if you don't know anything about the apex predator, you're in a lot of trouble figuring out what's going on."

Apex Predator??? Can a shark that is clearly built to scavange the ocean's bottom for DEAD STUFF be considered an "Apex Predator"?

Consider this cr@ppy science reporting the next time a 'journalist' tries to convince you of the validity of Global Warming (or any other dubious scientific theory)!

[Eye of Unk]

[Hegemony Cricket]

“Just running your hand lightly along them you can slice yourself wide open,” says Mr. Campana.

You just know reading this that “Mr. Campana” is speaking from painful personal experience...