It's starting to get freaky....
October 15, 2011 11:51 AM   Subscribe

Underwater methane seeps may host ecosystem that nourishes shark eggs. It has been understood for some time that deep water methane seeps nourish bacteria far from the reach of photosynthesis. As part of the food chain worms and clams eat the same bacteria far from the reach of photosynthesis. Now, underwater photos from two locations on the globe show fertilized shark, ray, and skate eggs nestled in the worms nourished from the bacteria far from the reach of photosynthesis.

As a kicker, re-examination of fossilized methane seeps (35 m years old) show...evidence of shark eggs.
posted by pandabearjohnson (17 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
We're gonna need a bigger bathysphere!
posted by Ice Cream Socialist at 12:01 PM on October 15, 2011 [5 favorites]


Ooh...maybe we will soon find sharks with laser beams shooting put of their eyes...

Very cool article. I'm so scared of sharks thanks to the movie Jaws, but I love marine science.
posted by Yellow at 12:04 PM on October 15, 2011


It's starting to get freaky....

It's been freaky for 3.8 billion years.
posted by kuujjuarapik at 12:09 PM on October 15, 2011 [3 favorites]


This post is far from the reach of photosynthesis.
posted by melt away at 12:22 PM on October 15, 2011 [3 favorites]


Whoa.
posted by pemberkins at 12:57 PM on October 15, 2011


Gnarly science!

And also the first time I've ever seen a picture of a shark egg, too.
posted by darkstar at 1:22 PM on October 15, 2011


Instead of being powered by the sun, then, some young sharks seem to run on fossil fuel.

Not enough playtime outdoors.
posted by three blind mice at 1:43 PM on October 15, 2011


These seeps, they're far from the reach of photosynthesis?
posted by IvoShandor at 1:45 PM on October 15, 2011


That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange aeons even death may die, far from the reach of photosynthesis.
posted by 0xdeadc0de at 2:25 PM on October 15, 2011 [5 favorites]


If you haven't seen other shark eggs, you should really google them, because they are very, very googly.
posted by hexatron at 3:43 PM on October 15, 2011 [3 favorites]


Hexatron, those are amazing. I've never seen shark eggs before.

This could be my favorite.
posted by BlueHorse at 4:21 PM on October 15, 2011 [2 favorites]


In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree :
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Far from the reach of photosynthesis Down to a sunless sea.
posted by Ron Thanagar at 4:38 PM on October 15, 2011 [5 favorites]


Thanks, hexatron, I have never seen shark eggs before!!
posted by Yellow at 6:43 PM on October 15, 2011


There is a new form of poetry, far from the reach of photosynthesis. It is much easier to write than a haiku or limerick, far from the reach of photosynthesis. Or perhaps I have mistaken a googlebomb for a rhetorical technique, far from the reach of photosynthesis. Regardless, it is fascinating to know that shark life cycles intersect so intimately with the earths methane reserves, far from the reach of photosynthesis.
posted by idiopath at 7:21 PM on October 15, 2011 [1 favorite]


And the Drake Equation continues its meteoric rise
posted by crayz at 1:33 AM on October 16, 2011


This raises the possibility that bed sharks are real and are reared in Dutch ovens!
posted by srboisvert at 2:41 AM on October 16, 2011 [2 favorites]


heh heh
you said "reared"
posted by idiopath at 11:29 AM on October 16, 2011


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