Sharks were long thought to be silent predators of the deep. Nope! Scientists have recorded the first known recording of the sounds sharks make. Unfortunately, it doesn't sound like the theme from Jaws but rather a series a of clicks. Listen below!
The team from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution discovered the sounds accidentally when making underwater recordings while studying the hearing of New Zealand rig sharks.
"I was very surprised as I was under the assumption that sharks don't make sounds," WHOI researcher Carolin Nieder told IFLScience. "At first, we thought it might be a strange artifact. However, with time as the animals got used to the daily experimental protocol, they then stopped making the clicks all together, as if they got used to being in captivity and the experimental routine.
"This led us to consider that maybe we are observing a sound-making behavior rather than a strange artifact. About one year later a paper published by Fetterplace et al (2022) documented clicks produced by wild sting rays in response to approaching divers. It was then when we thought it might be worth documenting our observation."
While they're not yet certain how these shark make the clicking sound, one theory is that they are clicking their teeth together. Understanding how and why sharks may noise may provide new perspectives on their behavior and other characteristics to help protect these creatures and their threatened environments.
Previously:
• First drone video of orcas hunting and killing a great white shark
• First ever video of Ghost Shark, with sex organ on its head, alive in the ocean
