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Scientists did place a dead cow carcass on the seafloor 1,629 meters below the surface in the South China Sea—but the predator that arrived was not a sea monster or an unknown giant. It was the Pacific sleeper shark (Somniosus pacificus), a large deep-water shark previously documented mainly in the North Pacific.
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A baited camera system and remotely operated vehicle (ROV) recorded eight Pacific sleeper sharks visiting and feeding on the carcass southeast of Hainan Island. The sharks seen in the footage were estimated to measure roughly 1.9 to 5.1 meters long. The observation, reported in a 2024 paper in Animals, is important because it represents the first reported record of this species in the South China Sea and extends its documented range into warmer, lower-latitude waters.
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Why researchers put a cow on the seafloor
The cow was not attacked while alive, and it was not casually thrown into the ocean. Researchers used a prepared carcass as bait in a controlled deep-sea experiment.
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Large carcasses that sink to the seafloor—especially whale carcasses—create temporary ecosystems known as whale falls. A whale fall can provide food for scavengers, support dense communities of small organisms, and eventually contribute nutrients to the surrounding seafloor. Because naturally occurring whale falls are difficult to find and monitor, marine scientists sometimes use large animal carcasses as experimental substitutes.
A separate 2023 South China Sea study used cow carcasses weighing approximately 600 kilograms at depths of 650, 1,600, and 3,400 meters. Comparing sites at different depths allowed researchers to examine how deep-sea communities respond to a large pulse of organic matter. The sleeper-shark observation came from the same broader type of whale-fall research approach, using deep-sea deployment equipment and cameras rather than an uncontrolled disposal operation.
The “giant predator” was a Pacific sleeper shark
Pacific sleeper sharks are members of the sleeper-shark family, a group of slow-moving sharks associated with deep and cold marine environments. Historical records have placed S. pacificus mainly in the North Pacific, including waters around Japan, the Bering Sea, Alaska, and Baja California.
The South China Sea footage does not show a new species. Nor does it prove that the largest shark in the video was a previously unknown monster. “Giant predator” is a dramatic description rather than a scientific classification. The reported size range—approximately 1.9 to 5.1 meters—does, however, justify calling the animals large sharks.
The researchers individually distinguished eight sharks from the video. That matters because a single blurry appearance could be mistaken for one animal returning repeatedly. Identifying multiple individuals gave the team stronger evidence that Pacific sleeper sharks were using the carcass as a food source at this site.
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What the footage showed
The sharks tore at the carcass and fed on it. A 2024 study focused primarily on the species’ distribution and the significance of the South China Sea record. A separate 2025 paper examined the footage in greater behavioral detail.
Larger sharks approached more aggressively
The behavioral analysis divided the sharks broadly by size. Individuals longer than about 2.7 meters made more forceful attacks on the carcass. Smaller sharks, below about 2.7 meters, were described as circling more deliberately and approaching with greater caution.
This does not necessarily demonstrate a rigid social hierarchy, but it suggests that body size influenced how the sharks competed for access to a concentrated food source.
The sharks formed a queue-like arrangement
The footage suggested that the sharks were not simply scattered randomly around the bait. They sometimes appeared in a queue-like arrangement as individuals approached the carcass and waited or moved around other sharks.
Pacific sleeper sharks are often thought of as solitary deep-sea animals, but large food falls can change the situation. A carcass provides an unusually dense energy source, bringing multiple mobile predators together even when they normally spend much of their lives apart.
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The 2025 paper also described eye-retraction movements during feeding. The authors suggested that this might protect the eyes from injury when the sharks bite into the carcass or encounter other sharks.
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That explanation remains an interpretation, not a conclusively proven physiological mechanism. The authors connected the behavior to the fact that Somniosus sharks lack a nictitating membrane—the transparent or translucent protective eyelid found in some other sharks and marine animals. Video observations can reveal a repeated movement, but they cannot by themselves establish exactly what biological function that movement serves.
Other deep-sea animals appeared around the carcass
The cow attracted more than sleeper sharks. The footage also showed a snailfish, Bathynomus isopods, and deep-sea amphipods. These animals occupy different roles in the scavenging community, from larger mobile consumers to smaller organisms that feed on exposed tissue and debris.
The researchers also noted white organisms that appeared to be attached to or moving on the sharks. They presumed these were copepods, but emphasized that the available imagery was not detailed enough for precise identification. That qualification is important: a low-resolution deep-sea video can show that an organism is present without allowing scientists to identify it confidently to species—or sometimes even to a narrower group.
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The clearest result is biogeographic, meaning it changes what scientists know about the species’ documented distribution.
Based on the records compiled in the 2024 study, the South China Sea observation extended the known range of Pacific sleeper sharks more than 1,200 kilometers westward and more than 730 kilometers southward. It also demonstrated that the species can occur at a site in the South China Sea, southeast of Hainan Island, at 1,629 meters depth.
That is not the same as proving the sharks recently moved into the region. The study provides the first reported scientific record in the cited literature, but deep-sea animals are difficult to observe. Pacific sleeper sharks could have been present in the area before researchers documented them.
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Did climate change bring the sharks there?
There is not enough evidence to make that claim. The 2024 researchers discussed environmental factors—including climate change—as possible influences on species distributions. They did not establish that climate change caused Pacific sleeper sharks to enter the South China Sea.
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Several explanations remain possible. The sharks may have occupied the region at low densities and escaped detection. They may follow food falls over large distances. Ocean conditions, depth, prey availability, and the species’ natural distribution may all influence where they appear. A single baited-camera deployment cannot separate those possibilities.
The responsible conclusion is narrower: researchers recorded Pacific sleeper sharks farther southwest than previously documented, and the finding raises questions about the species’ distribution and the environmental conditions that shape it.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why baited cameras are valuable in the deep ocean
At 1,629 meters, there is no sunlight, the pressure is extreme, and ordinary divers cannot visit the site. Even research submarines and ROVs can survey only limited areas and may miss animals that are widely dispersed or active mainly at night.
A baited camera lander or cage offers a different strategy. Researchers can place a food source on the seafloor, leave cameras recording, and observe which animals arrive, how long they remain, and how they interact. The same deployment can reveal:
- species that are present but rarely seen in open-water surveys;
- the order in which scavengers arrive at a carcass;
- feeding behavior and competition among individuals;
- differences between larger and smaller animals;
- small scavengers and organisms living on or around the carcass; and
- how a temporary food-rich habitat develops in an otherwise food-limited environment.
There are limitations. Bait can attract animals that would not normally gather in the same place, so the scene is not a complete picture of everyday behavior. The camera’s field of view is small, observations may cover only a short period, and image quality can limit identification. The cow therefore functioned as both a food source and a scientific sampling tool.
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What the headline gets wrong—and what it gets right
| Headline implication | What the evidence shows |
|---|---|
| Scientists dropped a live cow into the sea. | A dead cow carcass was intentionally deployed on the seafloor as bait and as a whale-fall analogue. |
| An unknown monster emerged from an abyssal trench. | Eight known Pacific sleeper sharks approached a 1,629-meter site on the continental slope. |
| The sharks attacked a cow. | They scavenged from a carcass; there was no live-animal attack. |
| A new species was discovered. | The observation was a new reported regional record for a known species. |
| Climate change caused the range shift. | Climate and other environmental factors are possibilities, not proven causes. |
The larger lesson: the deep sea is still undersampled
The most remarkable part of the story is not that a monster appeared. It is that a known large shark was found in a region where the scientific record had not previously documented it.
Deep-sea biodiversity remains difficult to measure. Many animals are too far below the surface for routine observation, occur at low densities, or respond only briefly to rare food falls. Baited cameras help expose that hidden activity, but each deployment is still a snapshot rather than a complete census.
The cow carcass created an opportunity to watch a temporary deep-sea food web assemble: large sleeper sharks feeding at the center, smaller scavengers working around them, and other organisms exploiting the remains. The resulting footage expanded the known range of Pacific sleeper sharks and provided rare behavioral observations without turning an ordinary deep-sea scavenging event into evidence of a sea monster.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Did scientists drop a live cow into the ocean?
No. Researchers used a dead cow carcass as bait and as an experimental analogue for a whale fall. The carcass was deployed on the seafloor using deep-sea research equipment; the sharks were scavenging from it.
What kind of sharks appeared in the footage?
The sharks were Pacific sleeper sharks (Somniosus pacificus), a known deep-water species historically documented mainly in the North Pacific.
How big were the sharks?
The eight sharks were estimated to measure approximately 1.9 to 5.1 meters long. “Giant predator” is a dramatic headline phrase, not a scientific designation used by the study.
Was this the first time Pacific sleeper sharks existed in the South China Sea?
It was the first reported scientific record of Pacific sleeper sharks in the South China Sea in the cited literature. That does not prove the species had never been there before.
Did climate change cause the sharks to move into the South China Sea?
No. The research raised climate change and other environmental factors as possible influences on distribution, but it did not prove that climate change caused the sharks to appear there.
The Bottom Line
Bottom line: A research team deployed a dead cow carcass at 1,629 meters in the South China Sea and recorded eight Pacific sleeper sharks feeding on it. The finding is a significant new regional record and a reminder that deep-sea species are still under-observed—but it is not evidence of a new monster, a live-cow attack, or a proven climate-driven migration.
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