The shark manages to regenerate its lost fin in the encounter

Sharks are impressive animals and are one of the few animals to have survived the prehistoric period. Exactly, these terrifying animals also coexisted with dinosaurs and were able to resist the impact of the large meteorite that extinguished the large reptiles.

However, a recent event still shows that we know very little about marine animals. The researchers were shocked when they saw that A Sharks-silk (Carcharinus falciformis) He was able to regenerate part of his fin after being injured by humans in Florida, USA.

Basically, the poor animal's tracking tag, which marine biologists usually attach to its flipper, was suddenly ripped off, causing an extremely painful injury.

Then a local diver named John Moore contacted researchers after noticing the injury and the absence of the device.

Shark fins regenerate

Stages of fin recovery – Photo: Josh Schellenberg/John Moore/Reproduction

After receiving the call, all the academics involved in the shark migration study project were amazed at what had happened. After all, up until now nothing of the sort had ever happened and the cruelty of the act was simply disgusting.

“I told him it would be impossible to miss the satellite tag on the dorsal fin, so he would know if it was one of our sharks,” said lead author and University of Miami doctoral student Chelsea Black.

Therefore, when the first images of the wound arrived, scientists were able to notice a hole in the place where the tracking equipment was located.

In fact, Black did not expect to encounter the shark again, as the wound was large and would make it difficult for the fish to move.

But, to the team's surprise, it returned to the same waters that had been photographed and cataloged almost a year earlier. Her deteriorated fin was fully restored, although it was slightly shorter than its original shape.

Chelsea said: “My first reaction was relief that the shark was still alive, because it was a traumatic injury that could have affected her ability to swim or cause a major infection.”

The whole incident caused quite a stir, because this is only the second case in which regeneration of this kind has been found in a species Sharks.

Unfortunately, these animals are threatened with extinction due to poaching and climate change.

According to speculation, the animal was likely hunted by poachers who cut off its mark to try to sell it or simply wanted to harm studies related to the conservation of these mysterious life forms.

Now scientists will continue to try to understand how the recovery occurs, as it has proven to be a rarely observed event.

Black believes that the regenerating limb consists primarily of scar tissue, but there is not theory More detail on this topic.