This article was taken from the September 2014 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
Scientists love to research sharks, probably because they're the badasses of the sea. But despite decades of analysis, some basic behaviours of Earth's most infamous predator remain a mystery. So a team of biologists from the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology and the University of Tokyo's Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute decided to try an approach that's popular with extreme athletes: strap on a camera.
With the help of Japanese data-logging company Little Leonardo, the researchers built a device that captures video and movement information (with a triaxial accelerometer-magnetometer) but is small enough that it won't interfere with a shark on the move. They secure the camera to the shark's fin for up to two weeks. Then the device auto-releases and floats to the surface, pinging the research team.
The footage has been, as ecologist Carl Meyer puts it, astounding. The cams recorded Hawaiian sandbar sharks diving in formation with other species (including hammerheads and blacktip reef sharks) and chasing members of the opposite sex. The team had never seen multiple shark species congregating. "This is our first ever shark's-eye view," Meyer says. "Until we deployed the cameras, we had no idea that these mixed-species shark aggregations were occurring." Finally, researchers can keep up with the predator that never stops.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
