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Intelligent Tactics Used by Tiger Sharks Hunting Sea Turtles

Intelligent Tactics Used by Tiger Sharks Hunting Sea Turtles

Written by Leisure Pro Staff
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Published on October 3, 2016

Sharks have a reputation for being the great hunters of the sea, tracking and taking down their prey with a clinical detachment. Recently, researchers from the University of Miami uncovered intelligent tactics used by tiger sharks hunting sea turtles, showing that sharks may be more opportunistic than ferocious under the right circumstances.

Each year, near Australia’s Raine Island, thousands of green sea turtles gather to lay their eggs. Exhausted from their efforts, dozens of turtles will die onshore, unable to make it back to the sea  after they have finished building and filling their nests. As the tide comes in, many of the bodies are pulled into the water. This is what the tiger sharks are waiting for.

Researchers have observed that, while the waters around Raine Island may be swarming with healthy turtles, it’s the dead or weak ones the tiger sharks will go after. A shark may swim past several turtles that could make a tasty meal, intent on the easy target of one that is already dead or dying. Tiger sharks hunting sea turtles in this manner have to exert very little effort for a guaranteed meal, rather than expending a lot of energy on one that might get away.

Neil Hammerschlag, research assistant professor at the University of Miami, explains, “The sharks are probably having to go out of their way to avoid hundreds of live turtles to find the dead and weakened ones. It is energetically more advantageous, and also safer, for sharks to scavenge on carcasses rather than have to chase down live turtles. In this way, tiger sharks are similar to terrestrial carnivores such as hyenas and polar bears.”

When tiger sharks hunt sea turtles off Raine Island, it also means they are intentionally in the right place at the right time, knowing they will have plenty to eat without having to do much work. Following a group of tagged tiger sharks, the research team was able to observe sharks spending more time at the surface scavenging, rather than their usual behavior of stalking and attacking from below.

Leisure Pro Staff

Leisure Pro Staff

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