A new species of shark has been discovered in the Atlantic Ocean. Sixgill sharks have long been separated into two distinct species: The Bluntnose Sixgill shark, which lives over 8,000 feet below the surface and the Bigeye Sixgill shark, which inhabits most of the major oceans. However, the Atlantic species of Bigeye Sixgill has just now been declared its own species. The new species’ scientific name is Hexanchus vitulus.
A new species of shark that is bioluminescent and has glow-in-the-dark glands along either side of its underbelly. The scientific name of the shark is Etmopterus lailae and its other notable feature is its large nose. The small shark was found 1,000 feet deep off the northwestern Hawaiian Islands. The shark was discovered 17-years ago, but scientists did not realize it was a new species until they went to describe the shark and publish their findings for review.
A new article published this month in PLOS ONE journal gives insight into the mysterious deep sea shark, the cookie cutter shark. The scientists, Peter Best and Theoni Photopoulou of the Centre for Statistics in Ecology at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, studied bite marks on whale carcasses for the study.
If you live in the UK, the first episode of a landmark BBC series entitled Shark goes to air on 7 May. The site has been filmed over several years, and many Wetpixel members and contributors have been involved, including Andy Cassagrande and Morne Hardenberg.
Elementary school teacher and South Africa shark tour intern, Amanda Brewer recently shot the most viral GoPro photo to date. The image is of a Great White Shark emerging from the water outside of a shark cage. The capture was selected as one of GoPro’s Photos of the Day, and went viral from there.
A company has created a wetsuit patterned like a venomous lionfish to deter sharks. Experts have doubts whether it will work.