Deep-sea camera films first-ever video of poorly known shark off Timor-Leste. See it
Scientists surveying deep-sea life off an island in southeast Asia captured a tantalizing glimpse into the life of a poorly known and mysterious ocean animal.
Last November, a team of researchers dropped baited cameras into the depths off Dili, the capital city of Timor-Leste, to survey marine life, according to a study published March 13 in the peer-reviewed journal Oryx. Their focus was on deep-sea animals living at least 700 feet down.
To the team’s surprise, the “low-cost deep sea cameras” filmed two clips of painted swellsharks, the study said.
Painted swellsharks, or Cephaloscyllium pictum, are a poorly known shark species first discovered at fish markets in Indonesia in the early 2000s, researchers said.
“To our knowledge, this species has never been observed in the wild,” the team said, “and little is known about its ecology, habitat or behaviour.”
The video footage from Timor-Leste shows the painted swellshark circling the area near the camera, moving in and out of view several times, before approaching the camera. The light brown shark looks relatively small and has white spots scattered on its body.
Researchers recorded two sightings of painted swellsharks near “steep rocky slopes” at depths of about 1,760 and 1,870 feet.
“This is a new species record for Timor-Leste and extends the species’ known range” by over 680 miles, the study said.
“The discovery of the painted swellshark off Timor-Leste highlights the importance of modern, cost-effective technologies to survey the deep sea and locate these lost sharks before they vanish,” researchers said.
“Imagine what other amazing critters live in Timor-Leste’s deep ocean!” study co-author Louw Claassens wrote in a March 13 Instagram post.
Timor-Leste is located north of Australia and shares Timor Island with Indonesia.
The research team included Claassens, Jonatha Giddens, Junior Gama Pinto, Denley Delaney and David A. Ebert. National Geographic Exploration Technology Lab also provided funding and equipment to the researchers.
This story was originally published March 21, 2025 at 10:50 AM with the headline "Deep-sea camera films first-ever video of poorly known shark off Timor-Leste. See it."
