When you think of sharks, what sounds come to mind? The swishing of ocean water? Robert De Niro’s voice as the kingpin shark in the critically panned film Shark Tale? Or, probably for many of us, the simplistic yet haunting “du nuh, du nuh” notes from Jaws? Plenty of us might even have assumed sharks were completely silent. Turns out, they’re not. Researchers in New Zealand have recorded the sounds that sharks make, and they’re actually pretty loud.
Back in 2021, marine biologist Carolyn Nieder heard what she believed to be “short clicking sounds” when she moved sharks to examine them. A research team was eventually assembled to investigate further. Nieder, along with other scientists, gathered both male and female rig sharks of different lengths and conducted a study in a tank. They published their findings in the journal Royal Society Open Science Journal, noting that “all sound recordings were conducted in a rectangular plastic tank.” They added, “To the best of our knowledge, this study would be the first to show that sharks can actually produce sounds.”
In an article for Smithsonian Magazine, science writer and fact checker, Sara Hashemi notes that Nieder relayed to Peter de Kruijff of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, that when she first heard the sound, she though they “sound[ed] like electric sparks.”
Hashemi continued, “The noises were loud: Their volume reached above 155 decibels, which is comparable to a shotgun. The clicks were mostly single pulses, but roughly a quarter happened in pairs. About 70 percent of the sounds were accompanied by a calm, swaying body movement, while 25 percent came with vigorous thrashing of the head or body. The other 5 percent occurred while the shark was still.”
Listen for yourself:
Posted on the USA Today YouTube page, the noises sound like light tapping on a keyboard or a gentle, crackling fire. It’s noted on the video (as previously reported) that “Researchers have recorded a shark species making sounds underwater for the first time.” It also mentions that “Scientists propose that rig sharks produced the clicking sounds by snapping their teeth,” but that “more studies are necessary to determine why the sharks make these sounds.”
There are some astute (and cute) comments. A few people liken it to a potential shark version of Morse code. One noted, “It really does sound like electrical sparks!” Another observer, possibly yearning for Gen-X candy, claimed, “It sounds like Pop Rocks!”
Yet another had an interesting theory: “I wonder if it’s the shark’s method of echolocation.” Echolocation, according to BBC’s Wildlife Magazine’s offshoot Discover Wildlife, is “a technique used by bats, dolphins, and other animals to determine the location of objects using reflected sound. This allows the animals to move around in pitch darkness, so they can navigate, hunt, identify friends and enemies, and avoid obstacles.”
But perhaps the best comment to sum it up? “So their language is literally ‘bite bite bite bite bite.’”
