Scientists have recorded what they say is the first shark ever documented in Antarctic waters, capturing video of the animal nearly 1,600 feet below the surface. The discovery of the shark in Antarctic waters challenges long-standing assumptions about marine life in one of the coldest and least explored regions on Earth.
Researchers filmed the slow-moving sleeper shark in January 2025 during a deep-sea expedition near the South Shetland Islands, close to the Antarctic Peninsula.
The shark appeared briefly in the light of an underwater camera as it moved over a barren seabed far beyond the reach of sunlight. Scientists estimate the animal measured between 3 and 4 meters (10 to 13 feet) in length.
Alan Jamieson, a deep-sea researcher, said the sighting was unexpected. He explained that scientists generally believed sharks did not inhabit Antarctic waters. The discovery stood out even more because of the shark’s size, which he described as large and heavily built.
First shark sighting in Antarctic waters challenges long-held beliefs
The camera used to record the footage belonged to the Minderoo–UWA Deep-Sea Research Centre, which studies life in the deepest parts of the ocean.
Researchers placed the camera well south of the 60-degree latitude line, inside the boundaries of the Antarctic Ocean, also known as the Southern Ocean.
Scientists have recorded the first shark in Antarctic waters, captured nearly 1,600 feet below the surface. The rare footage is reshaping what researchers thought they knew about life in the Southern Ocean. pic.twitter.com/IDFju4i1pl
— Tom Marvolo Riddle (@tom_riddle2025) February 18, 2026
The shark was filmed at a depth of 490 meters (1,608 feet), where the water temperature measured about 1.27 degrees Celsius (34.29 degrees Fahrenheit), just above freezing.
A skate appeared motionless on the seabed as the shark passed by. Scientists were not surprised by the skate’s presence, since its range was already known to extend that far south.
Jamieson, the founding director of the research center based at the University of Western Australia, said he found no previous records of sharks in the Antarctic Ocean.
Independent scientists confirm the rarity of the discovery
Peter Kyne, a conservation biologist at Charles Darwin University who was not involved in the research, agreed the sighting appeared to be the southernmost shark record to date. He said sleeper sharks may have lived in the region undetected for years because of their slow movement and the lack of deep-sea monitoring.
Researchers said the shark maintained a depth of about 500 meters (1,640 feet) because it was the warmest layer of water in a highly stratified ocean. The Antarctic Ocean contains stacked layers of water that do not easily mix due to differences in temperature and salinity.
Jamieson said other sharks may live at similar depths, feeding on carcasses of whales, squid, and other marine animals that sink to the seafloor. He added that few research cameras operate at those depths, and only during the Southern Hemisphere summer, leaving much of the year unobserved.
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