Page 188 - (DK) Super Shark Encyclopedia: And Other Creatures of the Deep

WIRED FOR

SOUND

SILKY SHARK

It can be difficult to find a decent meal in the wide
expanse of the open ocean. However, silky sharks can
pick up low-pitched sounds and are especially good
at detecting rumbles that are deeper than a bass drum.
In the ocean these may signal that a feeding frenzy is
nearby: rumbling sounds are made when lots of sharks
gather at a kill and frantically chase and snap at their
prey. Many sharks sense blood in the water—but silky
sharks are also drawn to the sounds of other sharks
eating, so they can get a share of the meal.

AT A GLANCE

• SIZE 7½–11 ft (2.3–3.3 m) long • LOCATION Worldwide in
• HABITAT Warm waters, mainly tropical oceans
of the open ocean, often near • DIET Fish and squid
islands; younger sharks occur
in more coastal waters
Long, rounded
snout

STATS AND FACTS

HEARING RANGE 10–1,000 Hz (silky shark)
Silky sharks can hear
Hz 5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000 lower pitched (deeper)
sounds than humans,
which is why they are
Hz 5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000
so good at using sound
20–20,000 Hz (human)
to hunt in the ocean.
SOUND DETECTION DISTANCE
ft 400 800 1,200 1,800
PITCH MOST ATTRACTED TO
m 100 200 300 400 500
max. 410–1,310 ft (125–400 m)
10-20
Hz

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