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It's a 26ft Jaws and it sucks... (Mysterious arctic shark slurps up seals whole)
The Sun (U.K.) / Florida Museum of Natural History ^
| July 12, 2008
| VIRGINIA WHEELER
Posted on 07/11/2008 7:49:27 AM PDT by Stoat
It's a 26ft Jaws and it sucks...
Big sucker ... the shark
By VIRGINIA WHEELER
A MASSIVE Arctic shark that sucks up seals whole and may live for 200 years is being studied by boffins for the first time.
The mysterious Greenland sharks mouth with hundreds of teeth is UNDER its body so it cruises along the ocean bed scooping up prey.
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.
Researchers at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography in Canada are radio-tagging the sharks to find out more.
Scientist Steve Campana said: They cruise along slurping up fish and seals. They are abundant but we dont have a clue about them.
TOPICS: Miscellaneous; Pets/Animals; Science; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: arctic; baffledboffins; biggovernment; boffins; boffinsafe; cryptobiology; cryptozoology; environment; godsgravesglyphs; greenland; greenlandshark; shark; teeth
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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.
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1
posted on
07/11/2008 7:49:29 AM PDT
by
Stoat
To: Stoat
They are cannibalistic but their flesh is poisonous to any other creature.This applies to lawyers also.
2
posted on
07/11/2008 7:52:14 AM PDT
by
central_va
(Co. C, 15th Va., Patrick Henry Rifles-The boys of Hanover Co.)
To: pcottraux; SunkenCiv
“Mysterious Huge Seal-Sucking Arctic Shark Ping”
3
posted on
07/11/2008 7:52:14 AM PDT
by
Stoat
(Rice / Coulter 2012: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
To: Stoat
4
posted on
07/11/2008 7:54:10 AM PDT
by
ryan71
(Typical bitter white gun toter)
To: Stoat
What’s that thing hanging off the shark’s eye?
To: central_va
6
posted on
07/11/2008 7:56:53 AM PDT
by
mbraynard
(You are the Republican Party. See you at the precinct meeting.)
To: Stoat
“Boffins”? What are boffins?
To: All
“Why study the shark?”, cuz that’s how you get grant money....
8
posted on
07/11/2008 7:57:44 AM PDT
by
Maverick68
(w)
To: Stoat
Nice photo of Hillary! She’s looking much better since she suspended her campaign :-) Course, she’s still poisonous to others.
9
posted on
07/11/2008 7:58:47 AM PDT
by
ushr435
To: central_va
Now we know the real reason Polar Bears are shrinking in number, if they are, that is.
10
posted on
07/11/2008 7:59:41 AM PDT
by
BOBTHENAILER
(One by one, in small groups or in whole armies, we don't care how we do it, but we're gonna getcha)
To: the_devils_advocate_666
To: Stoat
Shark is being represented by American Trial Lawyers Assoc. at no charge - a professional courtesy.
12
posted on
07/11/2008 8:01:07 AM PDT
by
ikka
To: the_devils_advocate_666
Whats that thing hanging off the sharks eye?
Regurgitated seal intestines.
13
posted on
07/11/2008 8:01:33 AM PDT
by
BOBTHENAILER
(One by one, in small groups or in whole armies, we don't care how we do it, but we're gonna getcha)
To: Stoat
14
posted on
07/11/2008 8:01:51 AM PDT
by
Disturbin
(Liberals: buying votes with your tax dollars)
To: Stoat; dragonblustar; Politicalmom
Mysterious Huge Seal-Sucking Arctic Shark PingYou heard the man!
15
posted on
07/11/2008 8:02:08 AM PDT
by
pcottraux
(I can't tell the difference between Carl Cameron, Chris Wallace, or Bill McCuddy.)
To: BOBTHENAILER
Now that is a real liberal nightmare, two endangered species eating each other.
16
posted on
07/11/2008 8:02:20 AM PDT
by
central_va
(Co. C, 15th Va., Patrick Henry Rifles-The boys of Hanover Co.)
To: PBRSTREETGANG
Boffins? What are boffins? A family of hobbits living in the Shire. They live near the Bracegirdles and Proudfoots, just west of Hobbiton. I didn't know they were into marine biology.
17
posted on
07/11/2008 8:02:39 AM PDT
by
ClearCase_guy
(Et si omnes ego non)
To: Stoat
I believe these are called Sleeper sharks
18
posted on
07/11/2008 8:03:30 AM PDT
by
nuconvert
(Obama - Preferred by 4 out of 5 Dictators & Terrorists)
To: Maverick68
“Why study the shark?”
Weird poisons and nasty creatures are useful for all sorts of things.
Alligator blood, for example, has just recently been discovered to contain an anti-biotic that can kill the nastiests of staff infections (makes sense, given alligators live in nasty swamps).
Poke along and discover about God’s world.
19
posted on
07/11/2008 8:03:40 AM PDT
by
TheThirdRuffian
(Bomb, Bomb. Bomb! Bomb bomb Iran! Bomb. Bomb. Bomb! Bomb bomb Iran!)
To: PBRSTREETGANG
20
posted on
07/11/2008 8:04:52 AM PDT
by
Stoat
(Rice / Coulter 2012: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
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