27th Annual Shark Week Starts with A Bite—The Experience of Being The Prey
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In anticipation for the 27th annual phenomenon that is Discovery's Shark Week, which begins this upcoming Sunday Aug. 10, all eyes and ears are set to the open ocean for news of the violently stunning fish. With more than 14 hours of new footage being promised this time around, and literally hundreds of hours of shark-enthusiast footage in the archives, Discovery continues to prove the beauty and the terror that is the shark family of fishes.
With teeth sharp enough to tear through metal, and keen affinity for even the faintest scent of blood, these natural-born killers are designed to dominate the sea with little to no predators to pester their continuous hunting season. None other than man, that is.
(Photo : Ranger Industries Studio)
Amongst the most violent of fish, and perhaps the most dangerous to man while at sea, is the Great White shark. "Great" not only in name, this species is a massively powerful fish with some of the most keen predatory adaptations-allowing for it to ambush prey entirely by surprise. And now, thanks to some thrill-seeking robotics we can now experience the death-defying chase of a Great White from the safety of our rooms, without risking much more than our personal fear-induced screams.
As a part of their general tracking and surveillance protocols, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute has been tracking and documenting wildlife behavior of Great Whites off of the coast of Mexico using what they call their "REMUS SharkCam". And it's courtesy of this "REMUS SharkCam" that we are able to now experience first-hand the sensation of being ambushed by a Great White shark.
(Photo : Discovery)
In short, the footage is all at once terrifying and completely enthralling. But it does raise some questions as to why the murderous species would attack the optics devices to begin with, unprovoked by the general surveillance.
"White sharks are notorious for biting metal... objects that are emitting a strong electric field" professor at University of Georgia in Athens, Gene Helfman says. "I was [most] impressed with the fact that the sharks didn't just bite once and reject the sub, as often happens when they known the object is inedible."
A physical highlight reel of the sharks' most popular hunting tactics, all told by the perspective of the prey, the five-minute long video is an insightful look into predator-prey interactions between sharks and other species.
"It must have been giving off some pretty damn delicious signals to stimulate them to not only bite once, but roll their eyes and chomp several times."
Bringing to surface many questions to be addressed in future studies, the video not only shows the true power of the fighting fish, but also hints at more complicated tactical approaches to hunting in the open ocean. Give it a look for yourself, and let us know what you too think about the real-life "Jaws" experience.
