Old and cold - biology of the Greenland shark, Somniosus microcephalus.

Pictures from the project:

About 4 meter long shark from Bredefjord close to Narsa killed by one bite of another large shark. It had been dead only for a short period and we could collect tissue samples and the eyes. Photo: John Fleng Steffensen.

Two about 4 meter long sharks caught at 600 meters depth in Bredefjord close to Narsaq. Sharks have eaten most of one of them, with only the vertebrae, tail and head ledt. Photo: Kirstine Fleng Steffensen.

Amalie and Kirstine having a well deserved break after baiting several sets of long-line with seal. Photo: JFSteffensen.

Peter and John checking long-lines in Disko Bay close to Qeqertarsuaq. Photo: Kristian Vedel.

Amalie and Kirstine checking the new ultrasound scanner they  will be using from an inflatable on the next research cruise to Greenland checking large females if pregnant.

We plan to wear bicycle helmets with mobile phones that via WiFi Display show the scanner image live, while we can keep the scanner in a box protected from the corrosive seawater.

Hence we can handle the shark with our hands in the water and still view the image. 2021. Here they are testing the equipment on a  small-spotted catshark shark (Scyliorhinus canicula). 

Photos: JFSteffensen.

Trouble getting a 330 cm long Greenland shark with a mass of 346 Kg transferred to the intermittent-flow resting respirometer.

Qeqertarsuaq, Greenland 2015. Kristian in wet suit behind the boat. Photo Alistair McConnell.

Greenland shark fishing from Sanna close to Upernavik 2014. Foto Julius Nielsen.

R/V Porsild and sailing vessel WHY meeting in Qeqertarsuaq, Greenland May 2014. Extreme divers from the expedition Under The Pole wanted to film Greenland sharks at depth down to 100 meters.

Photo: Under the Pole Expedition II - Greenland 2014 - 2015 - Lucas Santucci. (link). 

Greenland shark in the MR-scanner at Dept. of Forensic Medicine, Rigshospitalet, Denmark. Foto: Julius Nilsen.

Parasitic copopod Ommatokoita elongata that is often found on the eye of Greenland sharks. Foto: John Fleng Steffensen

Greenland shark diet - fish, seal, squid - and a pepsi. Amasalik 2012. Foto: Julius Nielsen.

Two Greenland shark entangled in the longline. Amasalik 2012. Foto: Henrik Schurmann.

http://www.mbl.ku.dk/JFSteffensen/OldAndCold/Pictures

Updated May 2025.