Dolphin or shark, who do you like better? Why are sharks afraid of dolphins, is it true? Who are dolphins afraid of?
It would be more correct to say: sharks are not afraid, but prefer not to mess with dolphins. Although, with a successful combination of circumstances, the toothy robbers will not refuse a dinner from several representatives of the “sea people”. This is how the ancient Greeks respectfully called dolphins.
The nature of the “fear” of sharks
And now about the fear of some animals by others. The fact is that these animals are at different intellectual levels. Shark is a representative of the class Cartilaginous fish. They are more ancient and primitive than those common in our reservoirs bony fish. The presence of feelings in these animals is a global topic. scientific research. So far they have only instincts. The dominant one is the need for food. Next comes the need for survival and reproduction. Sharks, except for the smallest species, carry out their life program alone, meeting with their own kind only for a very short time. a short time for the sake of the reproduction process.
Dolphins are mammals that live in water. Therefore, in addition to basic instincts, in their lives there is a need for society. Dolphins of all types live in a school, within which they communicate, help the weak, the sick, women in labor and females with newborn dolphins. Animals hunt together and defend themselves from predators. Considering that, apart from sharks (and also people and killer whales, smaller species), no one purposefully hunts dolphins, it is against the legendary sea robbers that the animals organize group defense.
Fight for life
How does communication between two representatives take place? different classes? Sharks, acting as a kind of orderlies of the sea, immediately identify an old, sick, injured or pregnant individual in a school of dolphins. It is she who they pursue or wait until the weakened animal lags behind the group. If the flock missed the moment, then the shark will eat the dolphin with great pleasure and move on.
But, given that dolphins have high intelligence and a quick reaction to changes in environment, in 75 out of 100 cases they notice the shark in time and organize a collective rebuff to the voracious predator.
Today, there are several successful techniques that dolphins use:
The flock surrounds the predator and begins to massively hit it in the gill slits. It's like hitting a person in the solar plexus. If the fish does not retreat, then the blows of the dolphins can damage its respiratory organs. Deprived of the opportunity to obtain oxygen from the water, the shark ceases to be interested in the dolphin in general and the school in particular. With its gill slits broken, it is doomed to die. If before that it is not eaten by stronger and healthier relatives.
Dolphins large species– beluga whales and killer whales have learned to put fish into a state of tonic immobility. The animals hit one side of the shark with their snouts until it turns over. With its belly up, the fish begins a kind of paralysis - convulsive muscle contraction, as a result of which it loses the ability to move for several minutes. Divers use the same technique. By quickly grabbing the shark's tail and flipping it onto its back, they are able to take a selfie by sticking their hand into the fish's mouth.
There is evidence that a group of dolphins simply pushes a predator out of the water, holding it on its snouts until it suffocates. There is, however, an exception. If a shark, even a white one, is caught by a pod of killer whales, then after being suffocated, it will definitely be eaten.
Information transfer mechanism
Why do sharks let dolphins do this to them? The reason is simple. For many millions of years, the shark has been hunting according to one primitive pattern. It winds circles in a spiral around the selected victim, waiting for the moment for a convenient throw. For their part, dolphins have the ability to communicate. There is information about the language they use. Therefore, the proven tactics of “beating babies” are passed down from generation to generation, unlike fish, which have to comprehend the science of life on their own.
Now let's get back to the question of why sharks are afraid of dolphins. Those sharks that survived an encounter with dolphins, or witnessed a reprisal against a fellow shark, already at an unconscious level prefer to stay away from the school, give way to it, or attack a guaranteed lonely animal. Those who have not comprehended science, or who meet an organized group of dolphins for the first time, do not have much chance of survival.
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To understand why sharks are afraid of dolphins, let's take a closer look at the characters. Is character so simple? good mammal, is a toothy fish mouth really that scary? Let's figure out whether sharks are afraid of dolphins.
The first character is evil
The shark is called the perfect killer. Her whole body is designed for attack.
She has a lot of speed and agility. And the mouth is simply terrifying with several rows of sharp teeth. Interestingly, the fish only uses the first one, the rest are spare ones. But that's only external signs. In addition, the sensitivity of a shark is truly amazing. A person perceives the world through five organs or systems. And the shark has thirteen of them! Among them there is a feeling akin to extrasensory perception. She, like a magician, foresees dangers, perhaps things that are beyond the power of a person. How and why are sharks afraid of dolphins with such “intuition” and power? It turns out that this murderous “machine” also has drawbacks. Sharks are loners. They rarely gather in “society.” The exception is the time when mating games. This dislike for companies is where their problem lies.
The second character is kind
Dolphins are very friendly. This property applies to everyone who does not attack them. They happily gather in flocks. Solitary animals are rare. The dolphin is also characterized by a feeling that is defined in humans as “justice.” These animals, without hesitation, will rush to protect their relatives. In addition, the intelligence of these wonderful creatures is known. They are used to constantly interacting. Their hunting shows this very characteristically. A school of dolphins surrounds him. Then he is collectively driven to the shore. The dolphins take turns having lunch. One rushes inside the school, the others hold the ring. This happens until all the animals are full. In case of danger, dolphins also repel the attack together. Therefore, it is understandable why sharks are afraid of dolphins. A friendly, well-coordinated team is stronger than a cruel, selfish loner!
How a shark attacks
Although the predator tries to avoid the company of dolphins, attacks still occur. A single animal is at risk. A shark, not smelling its relatives, may dare to try to feast on delicious meat. Relatives of the prey immediately “fly in” to help. They attack the offender with their keys in a crowd. They beat
for sure - into the gill slits. This is the fish's most defenseless place. This is why sharks are afraid of dolphins and stay away. It is quite difficult to resist several opponents at once, and even with great intelligence. The shark most often dies. This is approximately what happens when a predator attacks a person. The friendly ones surround the angry fish and drive them away with painful blows. In this case, it does not come to murder.
Masters of the deep sea
Dolphins live in groups, dive deep, and can remain without air for up to ten minutes. They are enough strong creatures. But they never attack first. Such cases have never been recorded. These are kind and even cheerful animals. But sharks are afraid of dolphins! There is plenty of evidence of this. There are descriptions and videos of episodes when scary predator retreated only after seeing a school of dolphins. Most likely, this is due to the shark's super sensitivity. Somewhere in the depths of her ancient brain, she understands well that strengths are not equal. She will not be able to scare or kill a group of animals that are strong in their friendship. So the bloodthirsty fish runs to look for a more “accommodating” victim!
In fact, this fear is not entirely clear. The shark does not have a brain capable of analysis. Rather, it is her thirteen senses that are not yet fully explored. When this gap in science is filled, the world will know many more wonders hidden from the human eye!
It would be more correct to say: sharks are not afraid, but prefer not to mess with dolphins. Although, with a successful combination of circumstances, the toothy robbers will not refuse a dinner from several representatives of the “sea people”. This is how the ancient Greeks respectfully called dolphins.
The nature of the “fear” of sharks
And now about the fear of some animals by others. The fact is that these animals are at different intellectual levels. Shark is a representative of the class Cartilaginous fish. They are more ancient and primitive than the bony fish common in our waters. The presence of feelings in these animals is a topic of global scientific research. So far they have only instincts. The dominant one is the need for food. Next comes the need for survival and reproduction. Sharks, except for the smallest species, carry out their life program alone, meeting with their own kind only for a very short time for the sake of the reproduction process.
Dolphins are mammals that live in water. Therefore, in addition to basic instincts, in their lives there is a need for society. Dolphins of all types live in a school, within which they communicate, help the weak, the sick, women in labor and females with newborn dolphins. Animals hunt together and defend themselves from predators. Considering that, apart from sharks (and also people and killer whales, smaller species), no one purposefully hunts dolphins, it is against the legendary sea robbers that the animals organize group defense.
Fight for life
How does communication between two representatives of such different classes occur? Sharks, acting as a kind of orderlies of the sea, immediately identify an old, sick, injured or pregnant individual in a school of dolphins. It is she who they pursue or wait until the weakened animal lags behind the group. If the flock missed the moment, then the shark will eat the dolphin with great pleasure and move on.
But, given that dolphins have high intelligence and a quick reaction to changes in the environment, in 75 out of 100 cases they notice the shark in time and organize a collective fight back against the voracious predator.
Today, there are several successful techniques that dolphins use:
The flock surrounds the predator and begins to massively hit it in the gill slits. It's like hitting a person in the solar plexus. If the fish does not retreat, then the blows of the dolphins can damage its respiratory organs. Deprived of the opportunity to obtain oxygen from the water, the shark ceases to be interested in the dolphin in general and the school in particular. With its gill slits broken, it is doomed to die. If before that it is not eaten by stronger and healthier relatives.
Large species of dolphins - beluga whales and killer whales - have learned to put fish into a state of tonic immobility. The animals hit one side of the shark with their snouts until it turns over. With its belly up, the fish begins a kind of paralysis - convulsive muscle contraction, as a result of which it loses the ability to move for several minutes. Divers use the same technique. By quickly grabbing the shark's tail and flipping it onto its back, they are able to take a selfie by sticking their hand into the fish's mouth.
There is evidence that a group of dolphins simply pushes a predator out of the water, holding it on its snouts until it suffocates. There is, however, an exception. If a shark, even a white one, is caught by a pod of killer whales, then after being suffocated, it will definitely be eaten.
Information transfer mechanism
Why do sharks let dolphins do this to them? The reason is simple. For many millions of years, the shark has been hunting according to one primitive pattern. It winds circles in a spiral around the selected victim, waiting for the moment for a convenient throw. For their part, dolphins have the ability to communicate. There is information about the language they use. Therefore, the proven tactics of “beating babies” are passed down from generation to generation, unlike fish, which have to comprehend the science of life on their own.
Now let's get back to the question of why sharks are afraid of dolphins. Those sharks that survived an encounter with dolphins, or witnessed a reprisal against a fellow shark, already at an unconscious level prefer to stay away from the school, give way to it, or attack a guaranteed lonely animal. Those who have not comprehended science, or who meet an organized group of dolphins for the first time, do not have much chance of survival.
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The question “why are sharks afraid of dolphins” sounds incorrect. The relationship between these animals is actually much more complex than it seems at first glance.
Are sharks afraid of dolphins?
The only answer is no, they are not afraid, but rather, they show reasonable caution. Clashes between them are rare, since they roam the waters in schools, and sharks, who know how to calculate their strength and predict consequences, avoid large gatherings of dolphins. A shark can become a victim of toothed whales (which includes all dolphins) only by making a mistake and approaching a school where there are many adults.
Do sharks attack dolphins?
Almost all sharks are individualists, occasionally keeping company (during mating seasons, on vacation, or in areas of food abundance). Half-decomposed remains of dolphins have been found more than once in shark stomachs. As a rule, the weakest members of the flock or inexperienced young animals fighting off from it fall into the teeth of predators.
This is interesting! Contrary to their innate prudence, sharks will not miss the opportunity to accompany a pod of dolphins, and not only in the hope of hunting the sickest or youngest dolphin: sharks happily eat the remains of the dolphin feast.
A shark very often initiates an attack if it sees that the object of its gastronomic interest has swum away from its comrades and is unable to resist. Thus, a mother can easily overcome a lone dolphin, especially one that has not gained impressive mass and size. Eyewitnesses told how a pack of medium-sized sharks managed to kill even an adult killer whale that had lagged behind its native pod.
Why do dolphins attack sharks?
Dolphins, as typical social animals, do not just swim together: together they support old, weakened and growing relatives, hunt in groups or repel enemy attacks.
Toothed whales are classified as food competitors of sharks, which is a good reason for the former to attack the latter. In addition, dolphins launch a preemptive strike when sharks circle suspiciously close (watching for babies or sick ones).
In a fight with a predator, dolphins are helped by such factors as:
- excellent maneuverability;
- good speed;
- strong skull (frontal part);
- collectivism.
Having united, the dolphins easily deal with a huge white shark: they deliver targeted blows with their heads to the belly ( internal organs) and gills. To reach the goal, the dolphin accelerates and hits the most vulnerable area, the gill slits. It's like being punched in the solar plexus.
This is interesting! Dolphins are not able to overwhelm sharks with their mass, but in lateral collisions they surpass them in power and agility. But the most formidable weapon of dolphins is collectivism, complemented by developed intelligence.
Killer whale vs shark
The big killer whale, the most impressive representative of the dolphins, is what the toothy predators should really fear. Even the largest shark will never grow to the size of a killer whale, the males of which reach up to 10 meters and weigh 7.5 tons.
In addition, the killer whale's wide mouth is studded with huge teeth, slightly inferior to shark teeth in terms of efficiency and size. But this dolphin has a brain, which is sometimes more important than sharp teeth.
The shark is one of the natural enemies of killer whales not only because of the coincidence of food preferences, but also because it itself is a tempting commercial target. In addition to penguins, dolphins and large fish, sharks are often found in the stomachs of killer whales.
Of course, sharks swim and maneuver faster, but the slower (30 km/h) and not very agile killer whale is a living battering ram, ending in an almost impenetrable skull.
This is interesting! Killer whales, like all dolphins, attack together, using their favorite technique: hitting the sides with their snout to turn the shark belly up. In this position, she briefly falls into paralysis and becomes completely helpless.
Generally large group killer whales easily overcome a shark and even a multi-ton whale, subsequently tearing it apart. There is also footage of a one-on-one battle, when a large fight took place near the Farallon Islands. White shark and a killer whale. The winner was the dolphin.
Dolphins, sharks and people
Everyone knows that dolphins often save people who find themselves in the middle of the ocean, including from bloodthirsty sharks. This behavior of cetaceans was explained by a heightened sense of collectivism: supposedly, they mistake the unfortunate person for one of the members of the pack and try to help him.
In 1966, Egyptian fisherman Mahmoud Wali was caught in a raging storm in the middle of the Suez Canal (near Cairo). The fishing boat sank, and Mahmoud remained on an air mattress, surrounded on all sides by water and hungry sharks.
It is unlikely that the fisherman would have reached the shore alive if it had not been for a pod of dolphins that came to his aid. They took the poor guy in a tight circle and began to push the mattress towards the shore, preventing the sharks from approaching. The transportation was completed successfully, and Mahmoud Wali emerged from the adventure unharmed.
This is interesting! Another typical case occurred in 2004 off the northern coast of New Zealand, or more precisely, near the island of Whangarei. It was here that beach rescue worker Rob Hughes, with his colleagues and daughter Nikki, practiced methods of rescuing people on the water.
Suddenly the divers were surrounded by dolphins, leaving no way for the people to escape from the ring. The rescuers were not only perplexed, they were frightened, because they did not understand what caused the unexpected captivity.
Everything was explained when Hues was freed from captivity - she was patrolling next to them, whose sinister intentions were quite clear. Hughes later said that he was almost paralyzed with fear when he saw toothy muzzle at a distance of several meters. The dolphins did not leave the rescuers for about an hour until they reached a safe place.
It has long been known that sharks prefer to avoid the company of dolphins. They swim away as soon as they see a school of bottlenose dolphins and white-sided whales, and try not to collide with killer whales. At the same time, half-decomposed corpses of dolphins were repeatedly found in the stomachs of captured sharks. What's the secret? And are the toothy queens of the seas really afraid of good-natured cetaceans? Let's try to figure it out.
Behavioral lines of sharks and dolphins
Sharks, as a rule, are cautious and cautious creatures. Perhaps it is thanks to these qualities that their evolution continues for millions of years, providing them with a place at the top the food chain. However, sharks are solitary predators. It is extremely rare that they gather in small groups, and even then only during the mating season, and then immediately separate.
Dolphins, unlike their reclusive neighbors, travel the ocean in close-knit groups, closely maintaining family ties. They take care of old or weak individuals and, most importantly, hunt and defend together. This does not mean that, seeing a predatory open mouth in the distance, dolphins immediately rush to kill their rival. On the contrary, it is sharks that usually initiate attacks.
As a rule, the queen of the seas tracks the weakest member of the flock for a long time, waits until he lags a little behind the rest and then attacks. Quite often she succeeds in hunting, and the well-fed fish, satisfied, swims away.
A completely different scenario if the dolphins notice the offender. Then it's time for strength collective intelligence. The school surrounds the shark and hits its body with its powerful beaks. Moreover, the dolphin acts with acceleration and deliberately aims at the very vulnerable spot- gill slits, which is similar to a blow to the solar plexus in a person.
Together, dolphins can easily kill a bloodthirsty predator. In addition, white-bellied mammals, with the same mass as sharks, are more maneuverable and more powerful in lateral collisions. Coordinated group actions help dolphins win in skirmishes with sharks. If a dolphin finds himself alone in front of a formidable predator, it is not a fact that he will come out of the fight unscathed (For more details, read the article Dolphins against sharks).
Why are sharks afraid of killer whales?
The species of killer whales is worth mentioning separately. These monstrous predators can even use great white sharks as an addition to their menu. However, it should be noted that killer whales usually do not attack first, but attack sharks only when they try to capture their calves or weakened members of the pod.
Thus, near the Farallon Islands, it was even possible to obtain footage of a brutal fight between a great white killer and a killer whale (read the article Killer Whale vs. White Shark), which ended in the latter’s unconditional victory. In addition to the fact that killer whales attack in groups, they have also become adept at putting sharks into a state of tonic immobility, essentially a long-term convulsive muscle contraction. Killer whales hit the shark's sides with their snout, turning it upside down with its belly.
In this position bloodthirsty predator for some time it seems to paralyze, the sharks become completely helpless. This same method, by the way, is also demonstrated by divers when, sharply twisting the shark by the tail and bringing it into a state of paralysis, they fearlessly thrust their hands into the gaping mouths. With only one difference - killer whales usually finish off their offenders.
Are sharks afraid of dolphins?
Thus, sharks become victims of dolphins only through their own carelessness and on the condition that the school is full of adults. Usually, smart patrollers of the blue ocean simply avoid dolphin society. They are not afraid, no.
Sharks clearly calculate their own strength, but are also familiar with group attacks of cetaceans. That is why they prefer to stalk the prey for a long time, slowly driving it away from the family, so as not to face the justified aggression of the pack. The tactics of the dolphins taught the sharks to be more careful in order to win again and again and proudly bear the name of the rulers of the world's oceans.