Sleeper Shark vs. Great White Shark

You may have heard the new buzz shifting around the Alaska SeaLife Center about a mysterious, deep-water dwelling beast: the Pacific sleeper shark!! As a mammalogist here in Alaska, I do not know much about this native creature, but I do know it may be a potential predator to the Steller sea lion in our Alaskan waters. We have evidence of such predation events from our current research projects involving our LHX tags, specifically from tags that have been implanted in young Steller sea lions in our area.

So, I am now on a quest to find out as much information about Pacific Sleeper Sharks as I can, and how they might be a potential threat to Steller sea lion populations.

In my searching, I found this cool video on YouTube that not only gives background information on sleeper sharks, but also shows how impressive of a species they are by comparing them to the great white shark!!

I am really excited to be a part of this journey, to learn about sleeper sharks, and find out if/how they affect the animals in our Alaskan waters through research and science!! Stay tuned to find out about our developing research here at the Alaska SeaLife Center!

Written by: Juliana Kim, Mammalogist

{feature image from YouTube video by “Facts in Motion“}