This week, video popped up of a researcher freaking out after he spotted a rare Greenland shark on footage he had downloaded from a remote camera in the Russian arctic (you can watch the hilarious video above). Here are a few things you might not have known about this elusive deep sea denizen.
1. The first part of its scientific name, Somniosus microcephalus , roughly translates to âsleep,â because of the sharkâs slow swimming; the second part of its name means âsmall headâ (pretty self explanatory). In addition to Greenland shark, itâs sometimes called a sleeper shark or a ground shark, and it goes by a number of other names as well: In Greenland, its names include ekaluggsup piara, ekaluksuak, eqalussuak, and eqalusuak; in the Netherlands, South Africa, and Turkey, itâs called hakaring; in Italy, it's called squalo di groenlandia lemargo; and itâs referred to as tiburon boreal in Spain.
2. Itâs one of the largest living sharks. At 6.5 feet long, the one seen above was probably very young ; on average, they grow to 14 feet, and can get as large as 21 (or maybe 24) feet. But they grow slowly , at an average rate of a quarter-inch a year. The females are bigger than the males.Â
3. Greenland sharks might live as long as 200 years !
4. Its meat is toxicâat least if you eat it fresh. Its flesh contains high concentrations of trimethylamine oxide (TMAO), which âhelps stabilize [the sharkâs] enzymes and structural proteins against the debilitating effects of cold and extreme pressure,â according to the ReefQuest Center for Shark Research . In mammals, though, TMAO gets broken down during digestion and causes a number of horrible symptoms, including âstiff movements, hyper-salivation, vomiting, explosive diarrhea, conjunctivitis, muscular twitching, respiratory distress, convulsions, andâin severe casesâdeath.â It also makes people appear as though theyâre drunk, which is why, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History , natives of Greenland say that people who are drunk are âshark-sick.â The Greenland sharkâs flesh is so toxic that it earned a spot in Guinness World Records 2013 , but it can be consumed if itâs prepared properly: It either needs to be boiled with several changes of water, or buried for as long as 12 weeks so that it freezes and thaws several times, then hung up to dry for a few months. The resulting snack is called hákarl; according to the Wall Street Journal , chef Anthony Bourdain called it "the single worst, most disgusting and terrible tasting thing" he's ever eaten.
5. The Greenland shark will eat pretty much anything, dead or alive. Though it mostly feeds on other fishâincluding small sharks, eels, lumpfish, and flounderâsome specimens have been found with entire reindeer in their stomachs. One was found containing a juvenile polar bear's jaw , and this shark was found choking on a moose hide .
6. In the deep ocean where the Greenland shark typically livesâitâs been spotted as deep as 7220 feetâit doesnât need great vision. And thatâs a good thing, considering that these sharks are hosts for Ommatokoita elongata , a 2-inch-long parasitic copepod that attaches itself to the sharkâs eyes, causing lesions that can lead to blindness. According to Daily Parasite ,
It sounds gruesome, but the sharks donât seem to mind; some even have copepods in both eyes.
7. It has crazy teeth . On the top jaw, theyâre thin and pointed, without serration. The teeth on the lower jaw are broad, square, and interlocking with short, smooth, outward-pointing cusps. The top teeth serve as anchors while the bottom teeth do the cutting.
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