It seems that nature’s most feared predators often mistake the vibrations in music for struggling fish, rockin out with their…uh…dorsal fin out.
Hello, my terrifying friend.
Norwegians, disaffected young men at the mall, and sharks—what do they all have in common? Well for one, a love of serious, thrashing death metal. Recently a documentary film crew working on behalf of Discovery Channel realized that blasting the hard stuff through an underwater speaker was quite possibly the best way to attract sharks. It seems that the low, rumbling frequencies of death metal actually mimic the sounds of struggling fish.
The crew came upon this realization while tracking an infamous Great White named ‘Joan of Shark’ for the Shark Week show Bride of Jaws.
The crew, in an attempt to shoot the 16-foot, 1.6 ton lady-beast, submerged a speaker to woo her attention. They didn’t catch the eye (and ears) of Joan, but they did manage to snag two other Great Whites—one 12 feet long. It seems that sharks are able to 'hear' by tuning into subtle vibrations in the water, and the sludging sounds of death metal are almost a perfect match to a school of struggling feeder fish.
According to The Independent: “It's an odd tactic, but one that's apparently well-known by shark hunters.” One of these hunters includes Australian tour operator Matt Walller, who realized that AC/DC records could cause sharks to “change their behavior.” We like to think that includes skippin school, wearing leather jackets, and smoking in the boys room.
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