In the South China Sea, scientists made the startling finding that Pacific Sleeper Sharks, which are usually found in chilly, Northern waters, were consuming a cow carcass. This is the southernmost sighting of these sharks, who exhibit unusual eating habits including eye retraction and queuing.
Scientists had no idea what would happen when they dropped a dead cow more than 1.6 kilometres deep into the South China Sea.
Instead, something that had never been seen in these waters before surfaced on camera: a Pacific Sleeper shark, a massive predator that is typically found thousands of kilometres to the North.
The cooler North Pacific seas, such as the Bering Sea, the Gulf of Alaska, and the area surrounding Baja California, are home to Pacific Sleeper sharks. The southernmost known location of their habitat is the South China Sea, where they first appeared.
Several sharks were observed by researchers consuming the carcass. Every shark in the video was a female. This adds to the potential that, like megamouth sharks, this region could serve as an identification ground for giant shark species.
While smaller sharks circled at a distance, larger sharks, more than 2.7 meters long were observed tearing into the carcass with aggression. It’s interesting to note that the sharks appeared to queue up to eat. Others who were already feeding were given precedence over others who were coming from behind.
Researchers think this might indicate a special survival tactic. These sharks may have developed a non-aggressive, hierarchical eating style in place of solitary behaviour, akin to that seen when shake carcasses are scavenged at the ocean’s surface.
It is a great scientific surprise that the deep-sea monsters known as Pacific Sleeper sharks (Somniosus Pacificus) have just surfaced in the South China Sea. The Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska are two examples of cold, Northern waters where these sharks are commonly found.
This is the first time that they have been seen this far south and that they have been photographed vigorously feasting on a cow corpse that was dumped 1,629 meters below the surface.
Pacific Sleeper sharks move slowly and are suited to deep waters where sunlight cannot reach them, in contrast to swift predators like great white sharks.
Researchers noticed that approaching sharks were prioritised over others that were already eating– a pattern that is uncommon among large predators.
Pacific Sleeper sharks are some of the largest predators in the deep sea, despite not being the largest sharks in the ocean. With a maximum length of 7 meters, they are only surpassed in size by filter-feeding behemoths like the whale shark and basking shark.
