Shark Myths : Discovery Channel

Shark Myths: Reeling in The Big Ones

By Jennifer Viegas

5. Sharks are mindless eating machines.

Gruber said, “A lot of people think sharks only kill, eat and reproduce. Depending on how we look at the data, the same could be said for humans.” The reality is that sharks are big-brained fish whose mental capacities fall in line with those measured for birds and mammals. “A shark could learn the Pavlovian response (conditioned training) faster than a cat or rabbit,” he said.

With these and other myths, Gruber admits part of the problem is we still know so little about these fascinating, mysterious creatures. “When we don't know something, we tend to fall back on myths,” he explained. He hopes the knowledge pendulum will swing more toward science in the years to come.

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