Sharks have a reputation for being indestructible predators and a hint of that was found when a great white shark appeared to regrow a fin, according to researchers.

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The shark involved is an 8-foot great white spotted in 2017 with a dorsal fin sliced down the middle, according to the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy.

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Fast forward five years, and the male shark didn’t look the same, though it did have one heck of a scar.

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“The research team saw him (again) in 2022 and was able to see that his dorsal fin ‘zipped’ back up!” the conservancy wrote on Facebook. “Incredible!”

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It’s suspected the “huge” wound was caused when the dorsal fin was hit by a boat off Cape Cod, Massachusetts, according to Megan Winton, staff scientist for the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy.

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She says closer inspection of photos taken in 2017 show the rear half of the sliced dorsal fin was left “folded over.”

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“The wound appears to have healed from the bottom-up, reconstructing the fin over time, which is pretty amazing,” she told McClatchy News.

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“White sharks have incredible healing abilities. But it’s important to remember that they’re not invincible despite their fearsome reputation. We’ve documented many individuals with more serious boat strike wounds along the body, and it is likely that some individuals die as the result of these types of injuries.“

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White sharks are apex predators in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean, with an ability to reach 21 feet and 4,500 pounds, according to NOAA Fisheries.

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The conservancy has documented “several” white sharks with serious injuries — including some identified as bites from other sharks — and all “healed remarkably well over time,” Winton said.

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“We are working to understand how these types of injuries may impact the population, which underwent dramatic declines (by some estimates as much as 80%) in the 1970s and 1980s as shark fishing increased,” she said.

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“Harvest of the species has been prohibited in U.S. Atlantic waters since 1997, and there are indications the population in the northwest Atlantic is recovering, but it is still a species of conservation concern because it is long lived (over 70 years), slow growing, and doesn’t produce many offspring.”

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Sharks have a reputation for being indestructible predators and a hint of that was found when a great white shark appeared to regrow a fin, according to researchers.

[–>

The shark involved is an 8-foot great white spotted in 2017 with a dorsal fin sliced down the middle, according to the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy.

[–>

Fast forward five years, and the male shark didn’t look the same, though it did have one heck of a scar.

[–>

“The research team saw him (again) in 2022 and was able to see that his dorsal fin ‘zipped’ back up!” the conservancy wrote on Facebook. “Incredible!”

[–>

It’s suspected the “huge” wound was caused when the dorsal fin was hit by a boat off Cape Cod, Massachusetts, according to Megan Winton, staff scientist for the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy.

[–>

She says closer inspection of photos taken in 2017 show the rear half of the sliced dorsal fin was left “folded over.”

[–>

“The wound appears to have healed from the bottom-up, reconstructing the fin over time, which is pretty amazing,” she told McClatchy News.

[–>

“White sharks have incredible healing abilities. But it’s important to remember that they’re not invincible despite their fearsome reputation. We’ve documented many individuals with more serious boat strike wounds along the body, and it is likely that some individuals die as the result of these types of injuries.“

[–>

[–>

White sharks are apex predators in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean, with an ability to reach 21 feet and 4,500 pounds, according to NOAA Fisheries.

[–>

The conservancy has documented “several” white sharks with serious injuries — including some identified as bites from other sharks — and all “healed remarkably well over time,” Winton said.

[–>

“We are working to understand how these types of injuries may impact the population, which underwent dramatic declines (by some estimates as much as 80%) in the 1970s and 1980s as shark fishing increased,” she said.

[–>

“Harvest of the species has been prohibited in U.S. Atlantic waters since 1997, and there are indications the population in the northwest Atlantic is recovering, but it is still a species of conservation concern because it is long lived (over 70 years), slow growing, and doesn’t produce many offspring.”

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