Sharks’ Long-Range Hearing: Study finds 74m sound detection; sharks turn away

Wild blacktip sharks may have a more sophisticated sense of hearing than scientists previously realised. A study by researchers at Florida Atlantic University found that free-swimming sharks can detect low-frequency sounds from as far as 74 metres, or roughly 243 feet, away and respond by turning sharply away from the source. The findings were reported by ScienceDaily and Florida Atlantic University, with the research published in Integrative Organismal Biology. Scroll down to read more...Sharks hear more than scientists could previously measureSound is particularly important underwater, where visibility can quickly become limited. For a predator such as the blacktip shark (Carcharhinus limbatus), noises and vibrations travelling through the water could provide information about prey, predators or other animals long before they become visible. Scientists already knew that sharks respond to low-frequency sounds. What had remained unclear was how far a wild shark could detect such a signal and whether it could determine its direction.The new research provides one of the clearest field measurements yet. Researchers studied wild blacktip sharks in the clear, shallow waters off southeas...