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

[Stoat]

NEWS

 

 

It's a 26ft Jaws and it sucks...

Big sucker ... the shark

 

By VIRGINIA WHEELER

Published: Today

 

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 shark’s 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 don’t have a clue about them.”

[NativeSon]

“Boffins” is an Britt term for Scientists. I thought it was mostly used in Australia

[central_va]

Merely a flesh wound, I've ad worse!

I hate when that happens....

[RJS1950]

Brit slang term for scientists and engineers.

[nuconvert]

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

It’s a parasite called a copepod. It feeds off the shark’s eye and renders the sharks almost blind. Scientists believe that the sleeper sharks do a lot of their hunting by smell.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

Thank you most kindly for your efforts...but I believe ClearCase_guy has the more accurate explanation in post #17.

[TexasCajun]

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

[Roccus]

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

Oooohhh......I get it......because they're both bottom feeders.....;)

[DungeonMaster]

ping

[willgolfforfood]

"Big sucker, the shark."

Big hitter, the Lama.

[garyhope]

ROFL, first in with the Hilldabeast joke. Thanks.

[garyhope]

ROFL, first in with the Hilldabeast joke. Thanks.

[numberonepal]

given alligators live in nasty swamps

And store their prey until it is nice and rotten.

[rawhide]

Tell me that’s a fake?

[BOBTHENAILER]

Now that is a real liberal nightmare, two endangered species eating each other.

ROFLMAO...kinda like the recent studies showing carbon dioxide emissions being good for plants.

[the_devils_advocate_666]

Thanks, freepers are so smart it amazes me!

A third group of copepods has completely traded mobility for security. They may be found burrowed into the flesh of the fish's body (E) or may penetrate the eye and embed in the retina.

[Conspiracy Guy]

These sharks suck.

[nuconvert]

aww shucks.
thanks
:~ )

[nuconvert]

Actually, when I’m stumped, I come to FReepers too for more info. FRee Republic is a wealth of information.

[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.

[Joe 6-pack]

"Actually, when I’m stumped, I come to FReepers too for more info. FRee Republic is a wealth of information."

I call it "WikiFReepia."