Our recent cruise to Alaska was all I expected and more. One of the great features of the Oceania Regatta was the full time naturalist they had on board. She knew everything about everything and was so informative. My mom and I looked forward to her many lectures, college level talks that were presented in a way that even the most uninterested listener perked up. Goeleta did an entire lecture on sharks and their importance in maintaing the balance of nature. One shark in particular that she spoke of, that I had not heard of before, was the Sleeper Shark.
Sleeper sharks have a heavy cylindrical body and rough, bristly skin. Teeth are speak like on the the upper, and slicing lower teeth with low bent cusps and high roots. They're a uniform grey. The prefer continental shelves and slopes, and depths of more that 6561 feet. They live in the North Pacific from Japan to Mexico. Size wise, the maximum length of an adult sleeper shark is around 23 feet.
Sleeper sharks feed on a wide variety of surface and bottom animals. Seal remains in their stomach may have been scavenged or taken alive. They're a lumbering and sluggish variety of shark, and their small mouth and large oral cavity suggest suction feeding. They are relatively common, yet we don't really know that much about them. I attribute to the fact that they live their lives at such extreme depths. And why do they live to be so old? That question was never answered in my research, but my very unscientific mind thinks it may have something to do with the deep, dark area of the ocean where they reside, and their slow, lumbering movements. Maybe this keeps the heart rate low, and helps with longevity. Just a thought.
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