Nature
PUBLISHED
Even the kings of the seas need to take a nap. For all our fascination with the great white sharks, nobody has ever actually seen one mid-sleep in the wild. However, a team of scientists from Pelagios Kakunjá and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution have now managed to film one that they believe was in a sleep-like state.
The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.The researchers spotted the shark along the shallow waters surrounding Guadalupe Island, near Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula. The shark was seen swimming face first into a 3 km/h (1.8 mph) current near the bottom of the shallow seabed, in order to help oxygen-rich water flood over its gills with minimal effort. It also has its mouth gaped open and appears to be in a still, almost catatonic, daze. Very little is known about the night-time habits of great whites, but the scientists believe this could be a sleep-like state.
Check out the video by Discovery of the ocean napping, which they posted in celebration of this week's Shark Week.
