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Great hammerhead sharks swim on their side to reduce transport costs
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Great hammerhead sharks swim on their side to reduce transport costs

N.L. Payne, G. Iosilevskii, A. Barnett, C. Fischer, R.T. Graham, A.C. Gleiss and Y.Y. Watanabe
Nature Communications, Vol.7, Article number 12289
2016
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms12289
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Abstract

Animals exhibit various physiological and behavioural strategies for minimizing travel costs. Fins of aquatic animals play key roles in efficient travel and, for sharks, the functions of dorsal and pectoral fins are considered well divided: the former assists propulsion and generates lateral hydrodynamic forces during turns and the latter generates vertical forces that offset sharks' negative buoyancy. Here we show that great hammerhead sharks drastically reconfigure the function of these structures, using an exaggerated dorsal fin to generate lift by swimming rolled on their side. Tagged wild sharks spend up to 90% of time swimming at roll angles between 50° and 75°, and hydrodynamic modelling shows that doing so reduces drag-and in turn, the cost of transport-by around 10% compared with traditional upright swimming. Employment of such a strongly selected feature for such a unique purpose raises interesting questions about evolutionary pathways to hydrodynamic adaptations, and our perception of form and function.

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40 Times Cited - Web of Science

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Domestic collaboration
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7 Engineering & Materials Science
7.57 Modelling & Simulation
7.57.1078 Bioinspired Aerodynamics
Web Of Science research areas
Zoology
ESI research areas
Plant & Animal Science
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