Do hurricanes repel large sharks? One species seems to enjoy them, study reports
.jpeg "Tiger sharks are “voracious eaters” and will even consume other sharks for a meal. A new study finds they are not afraid of hurricanes. In this photo, one is seen about to eat an albatross.")
Tiger sharks just got a little more intimidating.
A new study has found some of the best-known species of large sharks will leave as powerful Atlantic hurricanes reach shallow waters, but not tiger sharks.
They apparently savor the turmoil of destructive winds and waves. Not only do tiger sharks refuse to flee as storms worsen, but they are drawn to their wake.
That’s among the conclusions reached by Miami-based researchers who placed acoustic tracking tags on four species of large sharks during hurricanes Matthew in 2016 and Irma in 2017.
Large bull sharks, great hammerhead and most nurse sharks left the shallow waters of South Florida’s Biscayne Bay as hurricanes neared, according to study co-author Neil Hammerschlag of the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science.
Tiger sharks did the opposite in the Bahamas. They stayed and their numbers actually doubled after Hurricane Matthew, a Category 5 storm with winds of 165 mph, made a direct hit on the islands, data showed.
The study was published this month by Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science.
“I was amazed to see that big tiger sharks didn’t evacuate even as the eye of the hurricane was bearing down on them, it was as if they didn’t even flinch,” Hammerschlag said in a statement.
“Their numbers even increased after the storm passed. We suspect tiger sharks were probably taking advantage of all the new scavenging opportunities from dead animals that were churned up in the storm.”
The researchers offered no other conclusions on why the four species reacted differently in advance of storms or what made the tiger sharks so daring.
Tiger sharks can grow to 18 feet and are considered “voracious feeders that will eat just about anything” — including other sharks, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission.
“The tiger shark is a formidable predator and second only to the white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) in terms of the number of reported attacks on humans,” the Florida Museum of Natural History reports.
“Tiger sharks are often curious and unaggressive when encountered ... yet are one of the three species most commonly implicated in shark attacks and fatalities,” according to the museum.
The new study sought to understand how large sharks react “before, during, and after” major storms,” Hammerschlag said on Twitter.
It focused specifically on 32 sharks tagged near Miami and the Bahamas. (Previous studies have confirmed “small sharks evacuate inshore shallow waters in the wake of a storm.”)
“Major storms, like hurricanes, are predicted to increase in frequency and strength with climate change,” said Hammerschlag, who is also director of the University of Miami’s Shark and Research Conservation Program.
“How these storms impact the environment, including large sharks, is of interest and conservation concern to many.”
This story was originally published May 18, 2021 at 5:19 AM with the headline "Do hurricanes repel large sharks? One species seems to enjoy them, study reports."