Greenland Sharks Store Massive Oil-Rich Livers for Buoyancy Control

This shark floats using a liver the size of a small engine.

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Historically, these oil-rich livers were harvested commercially for lamp fuel.

Greenland sharks possess enormous oil-rich livers that can make up a significant portion of their body mass, providing buoyancy in deep water without a swim bladder.

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That liver, packed with low-density oils, allows a one-ton predator to hover in the water column under crushing pressure where gas-filled organs would collapse instantly.

By replacing air with oil for buoyancy, this species demonstrates how deep sea giants solve physical constraints that would otherwise make large-bodied life impossible at extreme depths.

Source

FAO Fisheries Report

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