A new study recently analyzed the hunting behavior of tiger sharks, also called Galeocerdo cuvier, as a result of the combined knowledge the researchers already have on the structure of these marine animals' eyes with images of their habitat and prey from tiny cameras deployed on them.
As specified in a Forbes report, a technology using crittercams, captures video, sound, and other data that give researchers rare views into the animals' private lives.
Sea Turtles Escape Tiger Sharks By... Not Moving https://t.co/cyTuRXYmgk pic.twitter.com/YkHSUxmbD4
— Forbes Science (@ForbesScience) June 23, 2022
As indicated in the report, it sure makes for a cool video on TikTok from the shark's point of view, but the footage captured provides the viewers with a glimpse of how the predators hunt.
According to the Australian Institute of Marine Science's Dr. Mark Meekan, the "animal-borne cameras are now common field in the field of ecology," although few studies have taken the next step to consider the videos they provide to what the subject creatures can see.
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A sand tiger shark swims in a pool of the Grand Aquarium in Saint-Malo, western France, on February 21, 2020.
Galeocerdo Cuvier
The new study published in the Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology said that Galeocerdo cuvier, described on the FishBase site, is a common shark in tropical and sub-tropical waters globally.
It is also recognized by the tiger-like stripes o its body, fading with age. Considered a scavenger, these tiger sharks are not picky with what's going on in their stomach, consuming an array of prey, and even some indigestible things such as tires and license plates.
Meanwhile, in Australia, the said animals are observed from south-western Western Australia around the tropical south and north to the southern coast of the New South Wales Coast.
Moreover, it was within the range of Ningaloo Reef, where a group of international researchers attached tiny video camera tags to them.
Fight Between Sea Turtles and Tiger Sharks
The fight between sea turtle and tiger shark has been caught on camera before but never from the point of view of the shark.
A newly developed virtual visual system for the sharks was employed to process the videos from the crittercam tags to understand how the predators typically experience interactions with turtles.
The said tags were fitted with special movement sensors to track the shark's fine-scale movements so that scientists could focus on their minute reactions to the surrounding world.
The School of Natural Sciences' Dr. Laura Ryan, at Macquarie University explained that when watching the raw camera footage of tiger sharks reaching sea turtles, it appeared strange that tiger sharks swam directly through a turtle that sits on the reef, a possibly easy meal.
The 'Hide-and-Seek' Game
Sea turtles are playing the most fatal game of "hide-and-seek" and remain still to avoid being detected by prowling tiger sharks, added Ryan.
She also said tiger sharks have much lower visual acuity than humans and video cameras, which means that the sharks need to depend on any form of movement from the sea turtles to identify them.
Meanwhile, for sea turtles, their best form of defense from attack may be to stay still in the existence of the predators merely.
As for the turtles that visually stood out, the crittercams revealed a change in the behavior of the tiger shark, as well as movement that highlights that though it may not be their strongest sense, vision remains a key sensory system for such predators.
When a shark saw sea turtles, they would slow down and start turning a lot, suggesting they were in "search mode" for their prey.
A related report about how sea turtles are escaping shark attacks is shown on USA Today's YouTube video below:
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