Random Fascinating Facts Most People Don't Know About Shark Feeding Frenzies (12 items)

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  (#3) Sharks May Keep Eating Even If They Are Dying

  The instinct for a shark to eat is so strong that it tends to override pretty much anything else. During a feeding frenzy, that instinct is all the stronger. Research has shown that sharks will continue to eat even after they are full, perhaps as a survival instinct going back eons. They will also accidentally eat things that are not food, even including license plates and cannonballs! During a feeding frenzy, however, concentrating only on eating can have deadly results, not just for the potential prey.

  When a feeding frenzy is happening, a shark will continue to eat even if it is injured. In fact, there are accounts of sharks being disemboweled, and continuing to try to eat and frenzy despite having a dire wound. Even if the wounded shark becomes a part of the prey during a feeding frenzy, they may continue trying to eat, even as their body is being consumed by others.
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  (#8) Frenzies Are More Likely To Happen In Areas That Have A Ton Of Prey

  One huge part of feeding frenzies has to do with an over-abundance of prey. Frenzies tend to happen in shallow water, where there are lots of fish and carrion, and it tends to happen when a group of sharks all focus on the same prey. When there's an inverted pyramid of prey-to-predator ratio, as in there are far more prey animals than predators, it becomes overwhelming. All it takes is a group of sharks to start eating, and as long as there is prey, they will keep eating. When blood is in the water, and there's plenty to eat, it's enough to simply drive sharks wild.

  Frenzies can also happen around fishing vessels when the nets are bringing in large amounts of fish, and can occur when vessels put chum in the water to attract sharks for tourists. 
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  (#9) Most Sharks Prefer Fish And Squids To Big Game

  Let's get this out of the way early: sharks don't specifically want to eat you. It's true that sharks can and will attack humans, but this is because they are equal-opportunity predators, and some species, such as tiger sharks, are willing to chomp on just about anything. However, sharks don't specifically target humans, gain a taste for human flesh, or actually even want to eat animals like us. We're more trouble than we're worth, and we're not their natural prey.

  In reality, sharks as a species prefer to eat fish, squids, and crustaceans. Even large sharks associated with huge attacks, like Great Whites, still eat fish and carrion, along with seals, whales, and turtles. This means that when a feeding frenzy does happen, human isn't exactly on the menu...unless you choose to get in the way of one.
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  (#4) Sharks Are Excited By Signs Of Distress

  A large number of prey in the water can also cause a disturbance in the water as the animal tries to get away. Living things give off chemicals into the water when they are panicking, and that attracts sharks. The sharks then feel vibrations and movement in the water that indicate extreme distress, and this lets them know that they have an easy meal incoming. The more the water is disturbed by panic, for example by a school of frantically swimming fish, the more excited they get. Add blood to that mixture, and the sharks will begin to attack with ferocity.

  On top of that, other sharks in the area swimming frantically and attacking things also disturb the water. This becomes a self-creating cycle, where the sharks all keep each other at a high level of excitement as they feed.
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  (#11) It Can Even Happen With Peaceful Sharks

  When you think of a shark feeding frenzy, you probably think of great white sharks, or tiger sharks, both of which can be very vicious under certain circumstances. However, feeding frenzies happen to most types of sharks, including those that we generally think of as harmless.

  Whale sharks have often mystified scientists. They feed by gaping their mouths, then swimming and eating small animals like krill, or fish eggs. This makes the whale shark one of only three known filter feeder sharks in the world. And yes, even they can become part of a feeding frenzy. Over 40 individuals show up regularly to one area of the Yucatan, where the water is rich in plankton, and once a year the sharks go into feeding frenzies. Unlike feeding frenzies where a group of sharks converge on a single point, the whale sharks simply swim quickly through the water with each other in a massive group, consuming as much as they can. They will come from over a hundred miles away to do this, and scientists are still studying the phenomenon even now. 
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  (#10) Frenzies May Have To Do With Showing Dominance

  Of course, one factor of shark frenzies may have to do with developing a pecking order. Because most species of sharks dine alone, when many individuals converge on one area, there can be some discomfort. The sharks may feel a sense of competition for the food, and even if there is an abundance, they may have an instinct that they have to fight for their ability to survive. To do this, they may show dominance. 

  The thrashing motion of the sharks may show force, aggression, and strength. The more frenzied an individual shark may seem, the more dominant they may seem. When you have a bunch of sharks all converging in one area, you end up with a lot of shows of dominance. Combined with all the other factors, this can result in what seems like blind aggression and rage, when in reality it is just a group of sharks all trying to prove to the others that they are top dog.

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