The Sundarban 
A female oceanic whitetip shark seen feeding on the carcass.
CREDIT: Kayleigh Grant.
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Of the over 500 known shark species, many of these giant fish are hunters and now not scavengers–particularly these came upon within the start ocean. White sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) ambush their prey from below and even sharks closer to shore love reef sharks are known to chase their prey into smaller crevices before eating them. But a small fragment of the diets of most sharks mild comes from picking apart already dead animals. Typically, these usually solitary hunters may also scavenge in teams.
In a watch printed May 29 within the journal Frontiers in Fish Science, a team from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa describe an unusual aggregation of sharks coming collectively to feed on a decaying carcass of an unidentified animal.
“To our information, this is the first watch to doc a feeding aggregation of tiger sharks and oceanic whitetip sharks scavenging similtaneously, and peacefully, on a carcass,” watch co-author Molly Scott said in a statement. “These species are rarely seen collectively within the wild because of the vastly various habitats they grasp.”
Unusual community feeding
Oceanic whitetips (Carcharhinus longimanus) are a highly migratory and threatened species of shark. They grow to an average of 6.5 feet long, train most of their time roaming the oceans alone. Their most widespread habitat within the start ocean make them complicated for biologists to watch, nonetheless they cease aggregate near Hawai’i’s Vast Island at some stage within the spring and summer season months.
Tiger sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier) are impartial a shrimp bigger at about 10 to 13 feet long. They are also more coastal and love appropriate locals, dwell within the waters around the Vast Island all year spherical.
“It is incredibly rare for these two species to overlap in space and time,” Scott said.
In April 2024, a tourist boat seen a heavily decayed carcass about 6.2 miles off the west coast of Vast Island. The spectators on board seen the feeding tournament for 8.5 hours, spotting at least 9 oceanic whitetip sharks and 5 tiger sharks.
“Though as much as 12 individual sharks were feeding intermittently from a very small, highly degraded carcass we did now not watch any agonistic inter- or intra-species aggression,” Scott said. “This was surprising to me; I’d assume some agonistic behaviors would exist when there are that many sharks attempting to feed around such a small carcass. Nevertheless it seems all individuals knew their place within the social hierarchy.”
Up to 12 individual sharks were feeding intermittently from a very small, highly degraded carcass. No agonistic inter- or intra-species aggression was seen. CREDIT: Kayleigh Grant.
Matters of measurement
Most seemingly due to the their larger measurement, tiger sharks were the more dominant species at some stage in this community scavenge. All of the tiger sharks–moreover one smaller female–and the two largest oceanic whitetips were more ceaselessly seen feeding immediately on the carcass.
The smaller sharks primarily stayed below the surface, feeding on scraps of flesh drifting away. These sharks were potentially attracted to the scene by scraps and regurgitations left late by the larger tiger sharks, according to the team.
Additionally, there may have been some various reasons late which sharks got the first bites of meals.
“Some individuals, love the female tiger shark, may have been shier or less daring, seemingly again due to the her measurement. Also, with the varied sharks having established the feeding hierarchy before the female tiger shark arrived, maybe she didn’t feel too welcome to obtain in on the action,” Scott explained.
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Unusual views
Regarded as one of many limitations to this particular watch is one that ceaselessly happens in transferring our bodies of water. The carcass may now not be located again the subsequent day, so the watch was performed over a immediate interval of time. Despite this, the team believes that brooding about the scale of the carcass and the alternative of sharks fresh, this research may provide new insights into relationships and social interactions between shark species that don’t typically inhabit the same waters.
It also can offer a new standpoint on sharks for us humans, as they are now not the mindless maneaters they’ve been made out to be.
“There have been between two and three humans within the water at all times filming more than 12 sharks feeding. None of the photographers reported any scary, aggressive, or harmful interactions with the sharks,” Scott concluded. “I’m hoping this provides a new standpoint that sharks are now not the human-eating predators they are made out to be.”
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