What Is A Greenland Shark?
by Jane Webb(31)Thanks to the Internet and Cable TV, we are given the opportunity to observe and learn information about species that previously most of us have never heard of. The Greenland Shark is one such animal.
The Greenland Shark inhabits the deep waters of the North Atlantic near Greenland and Iceland, hence, its name. They have been seen in waters as shallow as 24 feet, but seem to prefer deeper water. Bigger than most sharks, they can grow to about 21 feet in length and about 2200 pounds.
A gentle giant? Well, it is a meateater, with an entire reindeer, minus antlers, once found in the stomach of a Greenland shark. They are knows to eat polar bears and even each other if another source of meat is not available.
Greenland sharks, sometimes called a sleeper, gurry or grey shark, has poor eyesight because of a parasitic copepod, a crustacean, which attaches itself to the sharks cornea and feeds on its corneal tissue. Not, totally blind, the shark can see light.
The meat of the shark is toxic, producing trimethylamine oxide. Sled dogs who have eaten this shark's flesh have exhibited symptoms similar to drunkenness, leaving them unable to stand up. The meat can be eaten if it is put through a process called Hakarl. Meat processed this way is a delicacy in Iceland and Greenland....
Which leads to another controversy: The harvest of sharks' fins for shark fin soup. It is estimated about 50 million sharks are kidded mainly for its fins. The shark is pulled into a boat and its dorsal, pectoral and takl fins are cut off. The fishermen then toss the shark back into the water where it dies being left with no way to swim and bleeding. Any other sharks around are also caught, or enjoy a meal of their species. Some tout the benefits of shark oil in the human diet, but nothing has been proven to date.
So, what is next for this species? Currently, the Greenland shark is being studied by observing it in its environment using scuda and video equipment by the Greenland Shark and Elasmobranch Education and Research Group (GEERG). The sharks are tagged when possible. Although, little is known about this species now, as information is gathered electronically we will learn more about his giant of the north seas.
Article submitted Saturday, July 11, 2009 & read 107 times.
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