Nature it is a powerful being that will always amaze human beings, no matter how hard we try to control it. Natural phenomena can terrify us, but they have also amazed us. This is the case of the active volcano of Kavachi, a singular formation in which some mysterious sharks live. Yes, this is how you read it. Sharks living inside a volcano. And not. It is not a science fiction story, It is a real case that occurs in the Pacific Ocean. As if this fact was not already hard to believe, the volcano is not only active, but also it is an underwater volcano. If you want to know more about these intriguing creatures, join us in this new Supercurious article.
Discover everything about the mysterious sharks of Kavachi
Definitely, life is something very rare and curious of all the creatures on the planet. There are so many species around the world that we are sure we don’t know about a lot of them. On the other hand, the conditions of the Earth are also very varied, so all Species have had to adapt to different ecosystems, with different climates, temperatures and environments. The most interesting thing about this mystery is that nature shows us, once again, that life is miraculous and can occur in the greater adversity.
1. The Kavachi Volcano
Kavachi is an underwater volcano found in the Solomon Islands in Oceania. It has an elevation of 20 meters and its last eruption was recorded in 2014. Studying the activity of this volcano has been a very complex task, since it has not been possible to establish the frequency of its unexpected eruptions. However, what has been able to be concluded is that these eruptions are constant.
In addition to this, it has been shown that this volcano expels waves of lava and ash under the water, these can be seen on the surface due to the force with which they are thrown. On the other hand, all this produces different substances that make the water contain high levels of aciditywhich can cause serious burns to any diver or bather.
It has even been said that the outbreak of Kavachi is such that the tremor and the sound caused by the eruption can be perceived 16 kilometers away.. After reading this description of the terrible conditions inside the volcano, you may be even more surprised to learn that Kavachi was home to many sea creatures.
Now, if you are wondering what Kavachi’s sharks are like, don’t imagine some nightmare sharks. These are not gigantic sea monsters that can withstand high temperatures.
Actually, it is simple hammerhead sharks and silky sharks. These two species may not be monstrous, but they are rare in the seas. On the other hand, these two species of sharks belong to the subclass of the elasmobranchiiwhose main feature is that Its skeleton is made up of cartilage and the rest of its body is covered by a layer of dermal denticles, making its skin very rough and resistant, having a texture similar to that of teeth.
2. The discovery
Even before learning about this mysterious case, the Kavachi submarine volcano has always been an important object of scientific interest, due to its constant and unexpected underwater eruptions.
On one occasion, it was decided to make a documentary about the area, since it was the right time, since the volcano had not shown any activity for months, so the shots and photographs for sure would be great. Thus, the team prepared and entered the depths of Kavachi with the appropriate machinery and devices for those temperatures. Everything seemed to be going normally, until the team arrived at the 50 meters deep.
Among all that the researchers could imagine, they never thought they would find that Inside a crater of this volcano there was life. The lucky team that made this discovery was the Waitt Foundation under the leadership of Brenan Phillips, an expert oceanographer working with National Geographic. The researchers were filming the volcano’s crater in hopes of getting excellent shots for their documentary, when, out of nowhere, a dark shadow passed in front of the camera.
Everyone was stunned, because they did not expect that there was something alive there. The shadow was that of a hammerhead shark, but the researchers soon realized that not only different species of sharks lived in that strange place, but also various aquatic species.
Among the creatures they saw there we can name jellyfish, rays and small fish. Without a doubt, this was a great discovery for science and it happened almost by luck, since specialized cameras can only be submerged for an hour, so a few minutes difference could have prevented such a finding.
3. What do the researchers say?
Previously, science had established that life could be found in extreme and harsh conditions. But, it had been believed that these were only conducive to microorganisms that are easily adaptable. For this reason, seeing animals as large and complex as sharks raised many doubts and questions about previous hypotheses..
On the other hand, the eruptions of the Kavachi volcano were also questioned and whether they were really constantbecause as Phillips says, these animals could not survive a volcanic eruption, so there could only be two options: that the animals manage to flee the place every time it is going to erupt or that these creatures rise together with the ashes.
There are definitely many mysteries in the world that we may never be able to solve. Tell us what you thought of this article about the mysterious Kavachi sharks. Also, if your curiosity has already been aroused, we share with you another of the mysterious cases that this island country harbors: The mystery of the blond children of the Solomon Islands
There is still a lot to investigate and a lot of data to process, but it is always good to have questions to answer, because they give us more information about what we still don’t know. To end the article, we want to leave you with a short video that National Geographic has published, because a picture is worth a thousand words; hold your breath!