Minderoo-UWA's Antarctic footage reveals a 4-meter sleeper shark in deep ocean
First-ever video captures a 4-meter 'hunk' of a shark at 490m depth, challenging Antarctic science.
Deep Dive
The Minderoo-UWA Deep-Sea Research Centre captured the first-ever footage of an Antarctic sleeper shark. The 3-4 meter specimen was filmed at 490 meters near the South Shetland Islands in January 2025. This discovery directly challenges the long-held scientific belief that sharks do not inhabit the frigid waters of the Southern Ocean, forcing a re-evaluation of marine life distribution and habitat models.
Why It Matters
For scientists, this forces a major rewrite of marine biology textbooks and Antarctic ecosystem models.