SHARKS MAKE NOISE, AND NOT JUST THE CRUNCHY SOUNDS
It was believed that sharks, despite the Hollywood movies where they roar as they jump out of the water, are silent killers. (* Except for the horrific screaming of the victims.) But now, a marine biologist named Carolin Nieder has noticed that some sharks make odd crackling noises. Nieder and colleagues experimented with handling juvenile rig sharks, native to the coastal waters of New Zealand, in tanks outfitted with sound recorders. As the sharks were touched, they produced high-frequency clicks. They believe the clicks are generated by the rig shark snapping its rows of teeth together. Why the shark produces these sounds is more of a mystery. It’s possible the sounds are meant to spook predators. They did notice that the sharks stopped producing the sounds once they got used to being handled.
* Maybe they’re chattering because the water’s cold.
* Bad dentures?
* Like every other juveniles, they do it for the clicks.
* You’re gonna need a bigger… microphone.
* All I know is, this stupid little factoid is good for at least two full days of shows on Discovery’s Shark Week.
CLIP: The obilgatory Jaws theme.
