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One of the great white sharks participating in the experiment saw another great white shark, and the video camera captured the encounter.
(Letters of Biology, University of Murdoch)
A stunning new video shows great white sharks hunting seal – from the perspective of the huge predator. The sharks were equipped with video cameras that recorded surprising behaviors.
The pictures revealed that some great white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) spent part of their days swimming in the kelp forests, where Cape fur seals (Arctocephalus pusillus) dragged. Scientists say this discovery is unexpected on two fronts.
To begin with, previous studies had shown that the great Whites usually hunt along the kelp forests at dusk and dawn, when the sun is unclear, so that predators can trap the seals that come in and out of the sea. refuge. It is therefore unusual for these sharks to have been hunting in the kelp forest during the day, the researchers said. And secondly, the researchers wrote in the study that laminaria forests were inaccessible to these large predators. [In Photos: Great White Sharks Attack]
Scientists experimented near a fur seal colony on Geyser Rock in the Dyer Island Marine Reserve off the South African coast in May 2014. They attracted the eight big whites with chum paper and then attached video cameras to the backs of the sharks. After recording an average of 28 hours per day per shark, the cameras separated from the animals, which allowed the researchers to collect and review the recordings.
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None of the pictures showed that the sharks had managed to kill a seal (which was disappointing for the researchers and probably also for the sharks). But the images of a shark show 10 interactions with seals. These furbearing mammals swam in groups of one to three individuals and "responded to the presence of the shark by blowing bubbles, diving deeper into the kelp or sneaking up to the bottom of the sea," the authors wrote. researchers.
Although sharks have not caught any seals, kelp forests can still be useful hunting grounds for sharks, the researchers said. It takes a lot more footage before scientists can say as much. In addition, scientists were impressed by the agility of sharks in kelp forests.
This study is the first of its kind to show that great white sharks swim regularly through kelp forests in search of prey. It was published online yesterday (April 3) in the journal Biology Letters.
Originally published on Science live.
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