blunt-science:With a tail that can be long as its body, the Thresher Shark attacks its prey with vio
blunt-science:With a tail that can be long as its body, the Thresher Shark attacks its prey with violent whip like motions. This behaviour has been suspected by researchers, but only recently has it been caught on film. The tail is used to stun, maim or even kill the prey, with the shock-wave created by the momentum also stunning surrounding fish. It is thought to be an evolutionary adaptation as these sharks hunt mainly smaller fish such as sardines. This makes the whip mechanism much more efficient at catching multiple fish with a single blow, as opposed to one fish at a time the shark would tend to catch with its jaws. The tail was caught moving at up to 80 km/h, spontaneously heating and even boiling small areas of water near the very tip of the tail due to the extreme forces involved. -- source link