Here’s an interesting article I found about the intelligence of sharks. I’m always amazed to learn about the unusual type of creatures in the oceans that are smarter than we think. Such as the cuddle fish and the octopus. We just may find that the more we explore our waters the closer we come to finding life comparable to ours on an intelligence level. cop:

Bbc.co.uk science and Nature
by: R Aidan Martin

In 1983, photographer Valerie Taylor was filming a 3.5m male tiger shark in a large wire pen in the Cook Islands. Typical of captive sharks, the tiger swam the periphery of its enclosure at a steady, predictable pace. Eighty minutes into her dive, just after the shark passed Valerie and dissolved into the blue, she noticed a sole trying to squeeze through the wire mesh. Feeling sorry for the sole, Valerie scooped a small opening at the base of the mesh through which it escaped. Right on schedule, the tiger shark crystallized into view, swimming past as it had a half-dozen times before. Then, suddenly, it slammed on the brakes and zoomed straight to the excavation Valerie had made. Realizing that something significant had changed in its surroundings, the shark acted in what can properly be termed a logical way. It pushed its blunt snout into the gap and, bracing against the bottom, tried to lift the barrier. After several attempts, it removed its snout and continued circling as though nothing remarkable had happened.

A learning curve

By fishy standards, a 'typical' shark possesses a very large, well-developed brain. Shark brain-mass to body-mass ratios dwarf those of teleosts (bony fishes) and are comparable with those of many birds and mammals.

Sharks can learn and remember as well as many mammals. Tiger sharks improve their hunting technique by trial and error. These opportunists visit the north-west islands of Hawaii as laysan and black-footed albatrosses fledge. Tired fledglings land on the surface, where the tiger sharks attempt to grab them. Feeding attempts early in the season often end in failure because the buoyant birds are pushed out of harm's way by the pressure wave in front of an approaching shark. But, the sharks soon learn that the trick is to propel themselves high out of the water and make the kill as they arc downward.

Social animals

Co-operative feeding has been reported in several shark species. In October 1987, at least seven great white sharks were attracted to a whale carcass stranded in shallow water at Smitswinkel Bay, South Africa. The sharks were observed to work together in an apparently deliberate manner to move the carcass into deeper water.

Play is characteristic of large-brained, social animals that most of us would refer to as 'intelligent', including dogs, dolphins and crows. Perhaps sharks also play. One remarkable report involves a group of porbeagles chasing another trailing a streamer of kelp from between its teeth; when ownership of the kelp strand was usurped, the other porbeagles chased the new owner. It is difficult to interpret such behaviors as anything other than play.

Sharks possess large brains and integrated sensory systems, they can learn and remember, display social complexity, predatory flexibility, curiosity and possibly even playfulness. Are sharks smart? You'd better believe it.

You would be surprised at some of the behavoir that has been documented.

Sharkluver would love this thread!

beer:

Erica hasn't been around in awhile, though. Maybe when school gets out for the summer she'll be back.

Great article, though!

Yeah, I know Erik, miss her too. Was lamenting her absence!

beer: