There is evidence that a unique Greenland shark that came ashore on an English beach last month seemed to have a brain illness when it perished.
Inflammation of the defensive coverings that surround the brain & spinal cord has been found by pathologists, as per a report from the Zoological Society of London—the first known disease-related mortality of Greenland shark, a long-lived, secretive fish that dwells in the deep oceans of the Arctic as well as North Atlantic Oceans.
One of the kinds of bacteria found in the Greenland shark’s spinal fluid is Pasteurella. There’s a good chance this is what caused the meningitis.
Greenland sharks may live for up to 100 years. Even though it seems to be elderly, a Greenland shark of this size is really a young female, making this particular shark a juvenile. Although it’s not clear how much these sharks may live, at minimum 272 years is a safe estimate.
Shark, which was 13 ft (4 m) long but also weighing 628 lbs (285 kg), washed up at Newlyn Harbour, Cornwall, around March 13, however, the tide carried the animal’s corpse off to sea. Recovering the shark’s corpse was done by a recreational boating business.
During post mortem or animal autopsy, the shark was discovered to have meningitis, which may have led it to leave its native deep-water environment and become trapped, according to the report.
To determine whether or not the fish still was living when it came ashore, researchers examined its tissue all around its pectoral fins for evidence of hemorrhage.
However, there is just not enough information at this point to draw any conclusions about how anthropogenic influences on the ocean may affect deep water animals like Greenland sharks.
