Sharks surprise scientists by sharing a meal

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Of the over 500 known shark species, many of these giant fish are hunters and not scavengers–particularly those found in the open ocean. White sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) ambush their prey from below and even sharks closer to shore like reef sharks are known to chase their prey into smaller crevices before eating them. Yet a small portion of the diets of most sharks still comes from picking apart already dead animals. In a study published May 29 in the journal Frontiers in Fish Science, a team from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa describe an unusual aggregation of sharks coming together to feed on a decaying carcass of an unidentified animal. "To our knowledge, this is the first study to document a feeding aggregation of tiger sharks and oceanic whitetip sharks scavenging concurrently, and peacefully, on a carcass," study co-author Molly Scott said in a statement.