First shark ever filmed in Antarctic deep waters
Researchers have captured the first documented footage of a shark in the deep, near‑freezing waters of the Antarctic Ocean. The video, recorded in January 2025 but released to news outlets today, shows a large sleeper shark swimming over a seabed near the South Shetland Islands at about 490 m depth in water just above freezing.
The specimen, estimated at 3–4 m (10–13 ft) long, was filmed by equipment deployed by the Minderoo‑UWA Deep‑Sea Research Centre. Previously, scientists had assumed sharks were uncommon or absent in the frigid waters around Antarctica due to extreme cold and limited food availability.
Experts say this observation provides new evidence that sleeper sharks may inhabit Antarctic deep seas but have gone unnoticed due to the region’s remoteness and lack of long‑term monitoring. The shark appeared to be swimming close to the seabed and may occupy layers where water temperatures are relatively warmer compared to the surface and deeper layers.
The video can be viewed here.
