Rare sighting of a 'sharktopus' leaves onlookers stunned and puzzled

As It Happens6:32Rare sighting of a 'sharktopus' leaves onlookers stunned and puzzled

Marine biologist Rochelle Constantine and her research team encountered something completely unexpected during a research trip off New Zealand's northern coast — a sight that left them absolutely stunned.

While observing a shortfin mako shark swimming through the waters in December 2023, something strange caught their eye. 

"It had a really large orangey-brown shape on its head," Constantine, who recently shared the discovery in a blog post, told As It Happens host Nil Köksal. 

"We're like, 'Oh, is it entangled in a buoy, [or] some sort of fishing gear? Or maybe, [it] had an injury, because injuries often have unusual colours under the water.'" 

To get to the bottom of it, the team steered their boat closer to the shark, deployed a drone for aerial shots and stuck a GoPro in the water to get a closer look. 

What they discovered was far from what they expected: the mysterious blob was actually a Maori octopus clinging to the shark's head.

"It was definitely working to keep itself very contained on top," said Constantine, a professor of biological sciences at the University of Auckland. "You could see a tentacle … stray out every now and then."  

It didn't take long for the team to give the uncanny duo a name. 

"It got named almost instantly on the water," Constantine said. "The sharktopus." 

A very unlikely pair 

The Maori octopus, the largest octopus in the Southern Hemisphere, lives deep below and feeds on the seabed, says Constantine. 

Meanwhile, the mako shark typically swims above in the mid-water, diving to great depths but rarely, if ever, approaching the ocean floor. 

"How they actually found each other is the greatest mystery," said Constantine. "They have very different worlds." 

Constantine says scientists can only speculate about what brought them together. 

"I think as long as the octopus stays away from the mako shark's mouth, they're probably definitely buddies," she said. 

University of Victoria marine biologist Verena Tunnicliffe, who was not involved in the expedition, says the octopus probably fell prey to the shark, and was hiding on its back. 

"It's a very bright animal – where's the safest place? [I] guess it's hoping it will be able to slip off without notice," said Tunnicliffe. 

"I can't imagine it thought this would be a joyride, but you never know." 

Keeping it a mystery 

Though how the sharktopus came to be remains a mystery, the encounter has sparked widespread interest around the world. 

And Constantine is all for the chatter and attention that the "sharktopus" has generated. 

"I really loved that all over the world, and all these languages, people are talking about, 'Well, what is that? Why would they find each other? What is going on?'" 

For Constantine, the unexpected encounter serves as a reminder of how much we still have to learn about the ocean and its incredible creatures, while nudging us to be better stewards of it. 

"The lives of these animals is so much more than how we perceive them," she said. 

"I think that's true of everything in the ocean. I really want people to just stop and reflect on how much we don't know, how cool the ocean is and how important it is for us."