The “human” dimension of the shark

Mounted next to the usual stuffed animals, the elephants, the kangaroos and the koalas, always…
there was the gift shop, the Zoo Ταρόνγκα, a newcomer causes a stir: it is a stuffed shark.
Certainly attracts the interest of young visitors. At the same time symbolizes the great effort made in order to find the most “sweet” side of these sharks, who cause terror. In September, the zoo hosted some of the sharks of Port Jackson, as it is called the type, the framework for cooperation with researchers of the University I Wish. Scientists are studying the social lives of sharks in their quest to disprove the prevailing view that sharks are solitary beings. The ultimate goal of the program, however, is the improvement of the position of the human eyes, which is particularly important for Australia, where they often recorded shark attacks on bathers and repeatedly made calls for team killing. “More people are killed falling from cliffs while trying to make. rather than from shark attacks”, notes Cane Brown, assistant professor, Behavior, Ecology and Evolution at the University I Wish, citing global statistics.
The program began four years ago, when one of his students proposed to study whether the sharks have social behaviors just like people, e.x. if you gather to have a good time. Although some species of sharks, such as hammerheads, living in large herds, has never investigated why this is happening. This is it, I wonder, for expression of sociability or just the fish are looking for food? “In general –emphasizes the dr. Brown– was the belief that the sharks are a robot, that is, beings, anti-social. No one knows their social lives simply because their monitoring was extremely difficult”.
So, dr. Brown and his students spent three months in Jervis Bay of New South Wales in search of sharks. The sharks of Port Jackson was exactly what they were looking for: have a length of five feet, are many and they are large enough to see them in the water. “It is the most prevalent sharks in australian waters, and is relatively friendly. It’s kind of like a pet,” explains dr. Brown. The group of the mounted electronic transmitters to the sharks and released them in the γνώριμά waters. Over them were placed radios, like barcodes, that can be read remotely, without having to be arrested again. The fins placed another mechanism, sending a signal when he was at a distance of about half a kilometer away from an underwater receiver. This allowed the scientists to know when each shark was at a certain point, and if he had come in contact with the other sharks.
As it was found after the initiation of the investigation, the sharks return to specific points. Initially, the scientists believe that the sharks were returning there to breed, but, as the groups that gathered consisted of sharks of different age and sex, the researchers concluded that the sharks wanted to dine together.
In September, dr. Brown carried 10 sharks in a large tank equipped with a waterfall and hiding places made of stone, exactly as it was and the locations where they gathered freely. As noted by the scientists, the sharks are keen to be located close to each other, to hang out, which besides they do and when they are free. As highlighted by dr. Brown, “the fear of sharks is irrational. People kill millions of sharks every year. They are in danger and not us.”