Sharkcano: NASA captures eruption of underwater volcano releasing mutant sharks

Virgin Radio

26 May 2022, 08:07

This is Jaws-dropping. According to NASA, an underwater volcano called Sharkano has erupted and released mutated volcano sharks into the Pacific Ocean. Not only that, the sharks had been 'living and surviving within the volcano in burning hot acidic water'.

The horror-movie-style action happened in the Kavachi volcano, nicknamed Sharkcano, and was caught on camera by NASA's Operational Land Imager satellite – a 'powerful scanning telescope aboard the orbiting Landsat 8 satellite' which can take detailed photos of earth and sea from space.

"Prior to this recent activity, large eruptions were observed at Kavachi in 2014 and 2007," explained Nasa in a statement.

"The volcano erupts nearly continuously, and residents of nearby inhabitated islands often report visible steam and ash.

"The island is named for a sea god of the Gatokae and Vangunu peoples, and it is sometimes also referred to as Rejo te Kvachi, or Kavachi’s Oven."

In a study of the dark waters in 2015, researchers found that fish and sharks were living in the burning-hot sulfer-infused acidic waters.

Stretching down 1.2 kilometers (0.75 miles) to the ocean floor, you'll find two types of shark – the silky and scalloped hammerhead.

"Populations of gelatinous animals, small fish, and sharks were observed inside the active crater, raising new questions about the ecology of active submarine volcanoes and the extreme environments in which large marine animals can exist," the scientists previously wrote.