New Shark Species Native to the Artic Ocean Discovered Swimming Along the Belize Barrier Reef

July 27, 2022
by Larry Waight +

Marine wildlife researchers and local fishermen who were working together to tag Tiger Sharks near the Glovers Reef Marine Reserve, located off the coast of Belize recently got the shock of their lives when they discovered an ancient Greenland Shark, known to be a native of the Arctic Ocean attached to their lines— making it the first documented sighting of this rare species in the Western Caribbean waters.

Devanshi Kasana, a Ph.D. candidate at the Florida International University, along with local fishermen, were wrapping up a long night of research, just before dawn, and as a storm brewed on the horizon, the group decided to quickly pull up their gears and called it a wrap. However, as they later revealed when they went to one of the locations where they had dropped the line about a half mile out from the marine reserve, they discovered that it had swung up to three miles out and so they immediately concluded that whatever was on the end of the line had to be a monster to have dragged the heavy anchor that far.

Hector Martinez, a researcher at Mote Marine Laboratory, who was controlling the hydraulic motor that pulled the line that night revealed, ‘’When I first saw that thing coming up, the captain, who was my uncle, said ‘’ something is coming up.’’ No one ever thought it was that. It looked big, long, and wide. So, I was like what the hell was that. So, as it kept coming closer it looked like a monster. I was like, I wonder if it is going to jump in the boat. But once we floated it up, we saw what it was. We didn’t think it was a Greenland Shark at first.”

See also: Swimming with sharks in Belize

Kasana, who later documented her find, described the creature as being old, ancient even, that looked like an elongated smooth stone that had sprung to life. Its smooth snout and blunt and small pale bluish eyes immediately led her to contact her advisor Demian Chapman her Ph.D. advisor and Director of Sharks and Rays Conservation Research at Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium to lend her his expertise. She also sent him a picture of the creature and based on that Chapman immediately confirmed that it was a Greenland Shark native to the Arctic and North Atlantic Basin, and relative to the sleeper shark family.

“I knew it was something unusual and so did the fishers, who hadn’t ever seen anything quite like it in all their combined years of fishing,” Kasana recalled.

The discovery of the Greenland Shark in the warm waters of the Western Caribbean has stunned scientists as the creatures are known to survive in just above freezing environments. These species are known to have the longest lifespan of all vertebrates spanning between 250-500 years and only reaching reproductive age until around 150 years.

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They are also the largest living species of sharks and can grow to over 21 feet long and weigh up to 2,200 lbs. Known as apex predators they would feed on carcasses, fishes, seals, polar bears, reindeer, squids, and other marine animals. These animals often have poor vision because of the copepods, small parasitic crustaceans, that latch onto their eyes, however, that rarely bothers them as they rely on their sense of sound and smell to help navigate along the ocean floor.

While scientists have said that finding another Greenland Shark along the Belize Barrier Reef can be compared to winning the lotto, Kasana and her team have been given four satellite tags in the event that lightning does strike twice. If found, these tags will assist scientists to study, document, and track this new species as they vacation in the tropics.

The discovery of the Greenland Shark was made in May of this year but was only recently publicized.