Decades-old rule overturned after massive shark filmed in freezing Antarctic depths

A decades-old scientific assumption has been ruled out as researchers have captured the first-ever video footage of a shark swimming in the freezing waters of Antarctica.

The identified species is “Sleeper shark,” which is a massive, slow-moving creature and is estimated to be 10 to 13 ft long.

Shark was first filmed on January 25 at a depth of 1,608 ft near the South Shetland Islands, around 70 miles north of the Antarctic Peninsula.

At such depth, the water temperature was freezing, 34.3 degrees Fahrenheit, just above the point where seawater turns into ice.

Founding director of the Minderoo-UWA Deep Sea Research Centre, Alan Jamieson, who operates deep-ocean cameras, stated: “We went down there not expecting to see sharks because there’s a general rule of thumb that you don’t get sharks in Antarctica. And it’s not even one either. It’s a hunk of a shark. These things are tanks.”

Out of 500 identified shark species, only five are recorded in the freezing waters of the Southern Ocean.

In the footage, a shark appeared momentarily and disappeared back into the darkness.

It is anticipated that due to climate change and warming oceans, sharks might be moving towards the colder waters.

However, the data of the remote regions is quite insignificant to determine whether this is a recent migration or a long-unnoticed population.