Greenland Shark
The Polar bear is known for being the top Arctic predator around the North Pole, but this may not last. Now that back in August, it was reported that scientists who were researching how far a distance would sharks hunt seals in the Arctic, were stunned to find part of the jaw of a young polar bear in the stomach of a Greenland shark, a species of shark that are typical in polar waters.
Kit Kovacs, of the Norwegian Polar Institute, told Reuters of the 10 cm (4 inch) bone that was found in the shark off the Norwegian Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, “We’ve never heard of this before. We don’t know how it got there.” she said, “We can’t say whether or not the shark took a swimming young bear or ate a carcass” she continued, “We don’t know how active these sharks are as predators.”
While on Frozen Planet a show that will be featuring in 2011 on BBC One, from the same team who produced Planet Earth and Blue Planet.
The acclaimed producer of the show has warned this could be the last programme to capture the footage on camera due to the effects of climate change.
Alaistair Fithergill the Executive Producer said,“There is a particular poignancy to Frozen Planet because this could be our last chance to film the Poles as they are now.”
“Global warming is having devastating effects on this fragile environment and its wildlife.”
This will be a new seven part series which will utilise the latest equipment to film not only killer whales, but also the elusive Greenland Shark, and also a new Aeriel camera system will film under the tip of icebergs to reveal the creatures of the deep.
The Greenland sharks flesh is actually poisonous, due to the amount off the toxin Trimethylamine oxide, which once digested, breaks down into trimethylamine, which produces a similar effect to extreme drunkenness.
However it can be eaten if boiled in several changes of water or dried or rotted for months to produce Hakarl. This is done by the shark being buried in boreal ground, and then exposing it to several cycles of freezing and thawing. It is actually a delicacy in Greenland and Iceland.