Sharks have been on this earth for over 450 Million years, and they can be said to be living fossils of the world. This also proves their superior adaptation to the environment. What is even more shocking is the fact that the Sharks of today do not differ much at all from their ancestors based on fossil records dating back to 450 Million years! Although fierce looking and always portrayed as scary predatory monsters of the water in movies. Sharks are endowed with an ideal silhouette which reduces friction so much that they seem to have a super swimming ability; they have a lifetime of renewable fang-like teeth; and the fact that they have already passed the evolutionary test of surviving over 450 Million years. What actually makes Shark’s unique is their electroreceptor snout that allows Sharks the title of “Superpower of the Ocean”.
According to scientific research, the electroreceptors of Sharks can detect the movement of their prey’s direction in the water by actually sensing the tiny bioelectricity changes in the prey’s muscles when they contract in the water. This ability allows the Sharks to immediately change their own direction in order to catch their prey. This amazing sensitivity has been measured to 0.01 mv/cm (millivolts / centimeter) or 1 Volt/10,000 Km. In other words, if you take a 1.5Volt dry cell battery and connected a switch, then turned it on and off in Los Angeles, the Shark would be able to detect the switch going on and off in Sydney, Australia (a distance of over 12,000 Km)!!
Another amusing and interesting fact is that Hammerhead Sharks have been known to be extra sensitive to the electromagnetic radiation that nuclear submarines emit and are attracted to them. Hence new designs of nuclear submarines are starting to take this fact into consideration to avoid attracting Hammerheads and also more importantly avoiding being detected!
The following video shows that the scientists install the electrodes on the glass with weak electric current to imitate the bioelectricity generated from muscles of the little fish to attract the shark’s attack.
THE ROLE OF BIOELECTRICITY IN LIVING ORGANISMS – SHARKS!
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