Wild blacktip sharks can hear sounds from nearly 250 feet away underwater

The study also points to the importance of behavioural experiments in the natural environment. Sound does not behave the same way inside tanks, and the reflections from walls can create complicated acoustic patterns that can make an animal’s response difficult to interpret. The ocean can hide an entire world beyond the reach of sight. For sharks, however, sound may offer an early warning system, carrying information about prey, predators and movement through the water long before anything comes into view. A new study from Florida Atlantic University has now quantified how far that acoustic world extends for one familiar coastal predator. According to Science Daily, researchers studying wild blacktip sharks found that the animals could detect low-frequency sounds from as far as 74 metres, or about 243 feet, away. Even more remarkably, the sharks could determine the sound's origin and quickly turn away from its source. Scroll down to read the details.Listening to sharks in the wildUnderstanding shark hearing has traditionally been difficult. Laboratory experiments can reveal what frequencies an animal detects, but they do not always capture how it responds to sound while moving freel...