Source: Science everyday
New footage released of the nurse shark has given a whole new meaning to “playing with your food”.
Researchers at the NGO Beneath the Waves recently documented the unique feeding behavior of nurse sharks—with some surprising results. Video shows the sharks twisting and turning in an acrobatic fashion as they feed near decoyed underwater cameras. The team collected more than 200 encounters in the Turks and Caicos waters starting in 2020.
Dr. Oliver Shipley, Senior Research Scientist at Beneath The Wavessaid in a statement published by Science everyday.
Perhaps the most impressive feeding technique mimics that of their relative, the epaulette shark. Also known as the “walking shark,” this species uses its pectoral fins to walk over land at low tide. Nurse sharks in the study also used similar “chest positioning” to reach hard-to-reach food.
More information can be found in the study as published in Environmental biology of fish.
