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Mysterious Arctic sharks found in Québec

publicaffairs.ubc.ca — In the frigid, murky waters of the St. Lawrence River in Qu ébec, UBC marine biologist and veterinarian Chris Harvey-Clark is painting a clearer picture of a mysterious predator that could be the longest-lived vertebrate on the planet and the only shark in the world that lives under Arctic ice.

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  • SteelChicken, on 10/12/2007, -12/+54pre-emptive strike:

    yeah but does it have laser beams on its head?
  • dcer, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8this is so cool! ;)

    after reading the article it seems they may soon be gone.
  • blankoboy, on 10/12/2007, -37/+2Jaws has a hankering for poutine!


    ----------
    http://www.SkinTube.com (a NSFW site) - now with hookers and blackjack!
  • blankoboy, on 10/12/2007, -29/+7Al Gore jumps on this claiming global warming in 3, 2, 1.......

    /wouldn't necessarily disagree with him though.
  • brstilson, on 10/12/2007, -9/+16"The only age analysis to date, by Norwegian researchers, pegs them growing about half a centimetre a year, which would put a seven metre adult at several hundred years old, easily beating the giant tortoise by decades, even centuries."

    I wonder if they've taken into account that most animals don't have a constant, linear growth rate.
    • Spehno, on 10/12/2007, -2/+40I doubt it, they aren't marine biologists or anything.
    • brstilson, on 10/12/2007, -4/+20700 centimeters (7 meters) / .5 centimeters per year = 1,400 years

      It's incredibly mind-blowing to think that there might be a shark alive today that was born during the fall of the Roman Empire.
    • grahamcase, on 10/12/2007, -4/+7they are, since they are only estimating several hundred years. at that growth rate, and that length, the estimate would be 1400 years!
    • foobar5892, on 10/12/2007, -18/+2Anybody else smell the distinct odor of *****?
    • dhughes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1 1,400 years old? Imagine having one as a pet, think of the commitment!
  • ckidney, on 10/12/2007, -22/+5These Greenland Sharks have been known to be found in that area for a number of years now, not really recent news.
    • SaumZ, on 10/12/2007, -1/+21It may not be recent news, but it is very interesting news for people like me who have not heard of these sharks and their situation.
    • daedal, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3True. I remember seeing a documentary about them on the Discovery Channel a few months ago. They are pretty amazing creatures though, but also very reclusive. I remember them saying how they had been diving for years and had only seen them once or twice.
    • DalekoProvidek, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8If you read the article, it states that the sharks were harvested at rates up to 50,000 per year according to a 1948 estimate. 1948 is not recent, and therefore, their existence is not recent news, the knowledge about them being where they were found and other details are.
    • markgl, on 10/12/2007, -5/+6@ckidney

      Thank you Captain Information.
  • zhatka, on 10/12/2007, -5/+15"Uh...no ma'am. I'm just a dolphin."
    • brstilson, on 10/12/2007, -5/+9Well.....okay then...i'll open the door.
    • mlmurray, on 10/12/2007, -5/+10"Hey...You're that Landshark aren't you?"

      Thank you for simultaneously making my day and making me feel old.
    • mcdavis941, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Candygram!
  • BendingClouds, on 10/12/2007, -9/+2Interesting... also most animals grow faster when they're younger
    • RationalAntaxia, on 10/12/2007, -11/+2Thank you captain obvious!
    • datastorageguy, on 10/12/2007, -3/+13Well considering they are in constantly near freezing water and probably have very slow metabolisms, a slow growth rate and loinger life makes sense doesn't it?
    • Homunculiheaded, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8I'm sure they took that into account since if they were assuming that the shark was .5 centimeter at birth and grew .5 centimeters/year to become 6 meter that would 1200 years. Even if they grow to 5 meters within the first few years of there lives a 6 meter shark would still be over 200 years old
  • blueskydiver76, on 10/12/2007, -0/+19"They have lower teeth like an old-fashioned straight razor that take a five kilogram chunk out of a whale like an ice cream scoop."

    I love that line....pleasant thoughts.
  • Schroder3000, on 10/12/2007, -9/+0Judging by the picture with the article, that shark is HUGE :D
  • NinjaBoy, on 10/12/2007, -22/+2Here is a cool fact. That sharks cant see because of a parasite that attaches to their eyes!
    • Harabeck, on 10/12/2007, -0/+16The article states that in fact these sharks do not suffer from this parasite.
    • swoopdog, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10here's a cool fact:

      READ THE DAMN ARTICLE!

      "Another major finding is that almost none of the sharks observed in this area have parasites on their eyes, a disease that affects 98.9 per cent of Arctic sharks and severely affects their vision, virtually blinding them."
  • grahamcase, on 10/12/2007, -8/+2That is AWESOME
  • DiggDug07, on 10/12/2007, -7/+0whoa, trippy animals. amazing
  • BillehBob, on 10/12/2007, -7/+1They are an acquired taste though ;-)
    • Azur2, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5You don't know half of it.

      Icelanders catch these, and bury the meat in sacks in the ground for a year(!).
      In the cold and nearly bacteria-free climate the meat doesn't rot, but ferments, and fermented shark is considered a delicacy.

      I have tasted it, and can report that it smells like urine, and tastes like a chewy mixture of the way ammonia and urine smells.

      So, yeah, highly acquired taste.
  • fonetap, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8can't believe the stuff out there, just when you think you got a pretty good idea, a new critter blows your mind.

    +1 digg mother nature :)
  • badnewsblair, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Very cool. I want more crazy, odd, rare animals that were around during th fall of the Roman Empire on Digg. Get to it top 5!
  • domusvita, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2Bigger boat? Do we need one? Huh???
  • weir, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I remember seeing something about these sharks showing up around Sable Island (off the coast of Nova Scotia in the Atlantic) attacking seals in the winter, they bit them then go into a death roll like an alligator and basically take a corkscrew spiral of flesh and stuff off them as they drag them out to see. Kinda gross/cool.
  • Kappa3, on 10/12/2007, -7/+1dugg down; sharks scary dangerous
  • yahoofrom, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3The age of the shark is sheer impossiblility. As we all know, the Earth is only 132 years old. The oldest man alive is 132 years old. Therefore the age of the shark is fake.
    • therealrico, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2First off yahoofrom, not funny or clever,

      Second does anyknow of these sharks ever attacking humans? I imagine that it would be pretty rare seeing as how most people don't swim in the artic, but that one pic did show a shark with a diver in the background, and they do attack seals, so anyone know?
    • Azur2, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2There's no recorded attack, but like you say the main reason for that is likely that humans very rarely come in to contact with these sharks. Normally they, after all, live at depths of several hundred meters in freezing cold water.
    • moofer, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Begin walking due east and don't stop until you fall off the planet.
  • zonk3r, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Interesting but damn, I swear I saw this on a SciFi channel original movie.
  • Azur2, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Picture of greenland shark:
    http://www.fredshark.net/requins/requins4/requindugroenland2.jpg

    Picture of the parasite which sits on their eyes:
    http://www.fredshark.net/Dangers/vie/parasite_groenland.jpg
  •  

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