Scientists have recorded for the first time that these creatures temporarily stop breathing by tightly closing their mouths and gills. Experts from the University of Hawaii at Manoa have observed bronze hammerhead sharks diving sometimes as deep as a kilometer!
Using sensors, they tracked the fish’s movement, speed, temperature, as well as the depth of the dive and the temperature of the surrounding water.
Measurements showed that the sharks did not spend more than four minutes at maximum depth, but it took an average of 17 minutes to dive and rise back.
And all this time they keep their mouths and gill slits tightly closed. “Like a diver forgetting his oxygen tank, only a shark can do it without consequences,” says Mark Royer, one of the study’s authors jokingly.
Although sharks can easily extract oxygen from the water, holding their breath helps them keep their body temperature stable. The water temperature at depth can drop to plus five degrees Celsius, which is 20 degrees below normal.
Sharks prevent water from entering the body by holding their breath to avoid freezing. Measurements have shown that this strategy is really effective: their body temperature is at a comfortable level for most of the dive.
Source: Ferra
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