Other than it’s reputation as predators, Sharks can also save lives by giving early warnings of storms.
British research has found that they can sense minute changes in air pressure and head for the safety of deeper waters when a storm is brewing. A drop in air pressure – a sign of imminent bad weather – is mirrored in the pressure of the water.
“The shark’s inner ear is very similar to ours; if we go up in an aeroplane our ears pop due to the equalisation of pressures and the same thing goes on with a shark,” said Miss Lauren Smith, 24, a marine biology student, who has carried out further research into the phenomenon in the Bahamas at Aberdeen University.
“Juvenile sharks live in shallow coastal waters along the coastline and if you had monitoring stations or underwater cameras you could observe them migrating to deeper waters,” she added.