Surprise Shark Captured on Camera in Antarctica’s Near-Freezing Deep Ocean

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — It was a surprising sight to see an awkward shark barrel gliding lazily over a desolate seabed that was too deep for the sun's rays to light. Before this sleeper shark lumbered slowly and momentarily into the glare of a video camera, many scientists believed that sharks didn't exist in the icy seas of Antarctica, according to researcher Alan Jamieson this week. The shark was a large specimen, estimated to be between 3 and 4 meters (10 and 13 feet) long, and was captured on camera in January 2025.

Sam Teague

"There is a general rule of thumb that you don't get sharks in Antarctica, so we went down there not expecting to see sharks," Jamieson explained. Furthermore, it's not even a small one. The shark is really cute. "These are tanks," he continued. Off the South Shetland Islands, close to the Antarctic Peninsula, was the camera run by the Minderoo-UWA Deep-Sea Research Centre, which studies life in the deepest oceans on Earth. That falls well within the Antarctic Ocean's (also called the Southern Ocean's) bounds, which are located below the 60-degree south latitude line.

Scientists captured the first confirmed video of a shark in Antarctic waters
Previously, many experts believed sharks did not live in such extremely cold conditions.
The species is believed to be a sleeper shark, a slow-moving deep-sea predator.
It measured about 3–4 meters (10–13 feet) long, showing it was a large adult
The shark was recorded at about 490 meters (1,600 feet) deep

Shark Discovered at 490 Meters Depth in Near-Freezing Antarctic Waters

The shark was located at a depth of 490 meters (1,608 feet) in water that was nearly freezing at 1.27 degrees Celsius (34.29 degrees Fahrenheit). The image shows a skate on the seafloor, seemingly unfazed by the shark's approach. Scientists previously knew that sharks could be found that far south, so the skate, a shark relative that resembles a stingray, was not surprising.

Sharks may be migrating to the colder seas of the Southern Hemisphere due to climate change and warmer oceans, but because to the remoteness of the area, there is little information on range changes close to Antarctica, Kyne added. He claimed that no one would have seen the slow-moving sleeping sharks in Antarctica for a long time. "This is fantastic. The shark was in the right place, the camera was in the right place and they got this great footage,” Kyne said. "It's pretty important." According to Jamieson, the Antarctic Ocean's sleeper shark population was probably small and challenging for anybody to find. Along a seafloor that sloped into considerably deeper water, the shark in the snap was staying at a depth of about 500 meters (1,640 ft). The shark maintained that depth because that was the warmest layer of several water layers stacked upon each other to the surface, Jamieson said.

Jamie Larson

Senior Writer · Investigative Journalism

Jamie writes deep-dive reporting on technology, society and culture. Former editor at independent publications, Jamie focuses on clear storytelling and long-form investigations.