Energy-Efficient Giant: Pacific Sleeper Sharks Glide Instead of Constantly Swimming

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🤯 Did You Know (click to read)

Many deep-sea sharks move more slowly than their coastal relatives to conserve energy.

Thanks to massive oil-rich livers and low-density tissues, Pacific sleeper sharks achieve near-neutral buoyancy, reducing the need for constant swimming to maintain depth in deep-sea waters.

💥 Impact (click to read)

For a predator exceeding 1,000 kilograms, minimizing energy expenditure is critical in food-scarce environments thousands of meters below the surface.

This slow, gliding movement contrasts sharply with high-speed surface sharks, revealing an alternate blueprint for gigantism based on efficiency rather than velocity in extreme habitats.

Source

Smithsonian Ocean Portal

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