Shark Behavioral Footage: Following

Fascinating behavioral footage of two large female galapagos sharks. on a pelagic shark research snorkel! In these clips you can see examples of piggybacking and following behavior. Females tend to be larger in size and more assertive in their behavior than the males, and it was fascinating to watch these two large female galapagos sharks #SharkIDScoopfin and #SharkIDPrecious (check out the searchable hashtags on Instagram to learn more about these individual sharks @oneoceansharks) compete for dominance and challenge each other throughout the dive. One of the ongoing @oneoceanresearch projects is tracking and documenting agonistic displays among competitive or assertive sharks to avoid negative shark/human interaction through observation. Sharks communicate using a repertoire of behaviors and exaggerated body language such as following which is one of the core behaviors documented. Following is defined as an agonistic interaction in which one animal follows another, deviating from its course implying social precedence (or dominance) of the following individual (Martin 2007). Despite their capabilities as apex predators it's amazing how sophisticated sharks are as they go to great lengths to avoid physical confrontation. Join us in the water to learn more and see these behaviors and more.
Video recorded by: @Mako_Danny // Safety: @tracyann_saltygirl
Learn more at @oneoceandiving on Instagram & for further information and to book your charter, go to our website:
www.oneoceandiving.com.