Meningitis caused the shark to leave its deep water habitat, researchers said. (Representative photo)
A shark that was found washed ashore near Newlyn Harbour in England last month died of meningitis, a post-mortem report has found. According to BBC, scientists who examined the body of the rare Greenland shark said that the latest revelation could be “the world's first”. The BBC report further said that the marine biologists thought the female shark to be 100 years old. They stated that a brain infection, which has never been seen in this species of shark, may have been responsible for its death.
The shark was found washed up on the Cornish beach in March. Though it is 100 years old, the shark is still considered a “juvenile” because Greenland sharks can live for more than 400 years.
According to an autopsy by the Cornwall Marine Pathology Team, which is thought to be the first of its kind undertaken in the United Kingdom, the shark having meningitis caused the animal to leave its natural deep water habitat. Scientists stated that there was not enough evidence to link the disease to man-made stressors, such as pollution.
Further, the pathology team, which is part of the Zoological Society of London's (ZSL) Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP), found that the 3.96-meter long shark had damage to her fins and silt in her stomach, suggesting that she may have been alive when she stranded. After studying the body, Veterinary pathologist James Barnett, of the Cornwall Marine Pathology Team, said that the brain was also “discoloured and congested”, while the fluid around the brain was cloudy.
The researchers explained that a strain of bacteria was isolated from fluid around the brain and is thought to have been the cause of meningitis.
According to the BBC, Rob Deaville, project lead for the CSIP, said, "This unfortunate and extraordinary stranding has allowed us to get an insight into the life and death of a species we know little about. Discovering that this shark had meningitis is likely a world's first, but the significance of this in terms of any wider stressors is unknown.”
"Ultimately, like most marine life, deep-sea species such as Greenland sharks may also be impacted by human pressures on the ocean but there is not enough evidence at this stage to make any connections,” Rob Deaville added.
The research team believes that the bran infection explains why the marine animal was out of her natural deep-water habitat, the cause of her stranding and eventual death. Notably, the Greenland sharks usually dwell more than 2.5 kilometres below the surface of the Arctic and North Atlantic oceans.