Observation could help scientists better understand the ecology of sharks

Many sharks, especially those who live in the open oceans, are hunters rather than scavengers. Despite this, a small part of their diet comes from recovery, a behavior in which they can engage at the time of the occasion.

Now writing Frontiers in Fish ScienceThe researchers describe an unusual aggregation of sharks meeting to feed on a carcass which had broken down to most of the flesh and the Blubber.

“To our knowledge, this is the first study to document an aggregation of food for tigers and ocean white sharks to simultaneously and peacefully recover a carcass,” said the first author, Dr Molly Scott, a marine researcher at the University of Hawaii in Manoa. “These species are rarely seen together in nature due to the very different habitats they occupy.”

Party Day

Oceanic Whitips, a threatened species reaching an average of two meters in length, are very migratory lonely sharks and spend most of their time traveling the oceans. This choice of habitat makes them difficult to study. In spring and summer, however, they come together seasonally to the Big Island of Hawaii.

Tiger Sharks, a slightly larger and more coastal species cultivating three to four meters on average, lives there all year round. “It is incredibly rare that these two species overlap in space and time,” said Scott.

In April 2024, a tourist boat saw a carcass strongly decaying about 10 kilometers off the west coast of Big Island. Once in the water, tourist operators could observe the food event for 8.5 hours. Meanwhile, at least nine ocean laundering sharks and five tiger sharks have been identified.

“Even if up to 12 individual sharks were nourished intermittently by a very small very degraded carcass, we have observed no agonist or intra-species assault,” said Scott.

“It surprised me; I suppose that certain agonist behaviors would exist when there are so many sharks that try to feed on such a small carcass. But it seems that all individuals knew their place in the social hierarchy.”

First portions

Tigers sharks, probably because of their largest size, were the dominant species. All the tiger sharks, with the exception of a small female, and the two largest ocean whiteitips have been observed most frequently feeding directly from the carcass.

Small sharks remained below the surface and feed on remains moving away. It is possible that they were attracted to the scene due to the remains and the regurgitations left by the largest tiger sharks, the researchers said.

There were perhaps other reasons for some sharks to also get the first portions. “Some people, such as the female tiger shark, may have been more military or less daring, probably again because of its size. In addition, the other sharks having established the food hierarchy before the arrival of the female tiger shark, perhaps perhaps did not feel too welcome to enter the action,” said Scott.

The study was carried out over a relatively short period of time because the carcass could not be found the next day. Given the size of the carcass, many sharks were present and this research could provide new perspectives on relations and social interactions between sharks that do not normally live in the same waters, the researchers said.

For humans, they said, it may provide a new perspective on sharks. “There were between two and three humans in the water filming more than 12 sharks.

“I hope it offers a new perspective that sharks are not the human -eating predators that they are made.”