Human culture fears sharks because of their infamous reputation of being relentless predators—but why are they afraid of dolphins?
However, there is one creature that strikes fear in the hearts of sharks everywhere.
The dolphin’s atypical hunting techniques have made it an enemy to all sharks.
Even great white sharks forcedly retreat at the sight of dolphins.
Why Sharks Are Afraid of Dolphins
Dolphins hunt in a different way to most other creatures.
They use echolocation—a process of creating sound waves and listening for the echoes to determine the environment around them.
Dolphins can detect obscured or hidden prey by playing a soundwave to determine an object’s size, shape, and distance.
This is how they feed on fish without being able to see them clearly.
Dolphins make it easy for other creatures to steal their prey by herding or surrounding a school of fish.
This way, other predators will attack the group—allowing the dolphin to pick off the weak ones as they flee.
Sharks are at the top of the food chain and are feared because they can quickly kill humans with minimal effort.
However, sharks retreat when dolphins are spotted because their techniques pose too many threats to their safety.
Dolphins do not need to see clearly in order to hunt.
They create noise that sharks can detect and interpret as a warning sign.
Sharks will retreat because dolphins do not go down without a fight and their atypical hunting techniques make them dangerous opponents.
Dolphins are notorious for their unique hunting methods and ability to attack with a high level of ferocity.
In turn, sharks will effectively retreat when they spot dolphins in the water.
Are All Sharks Afraid of Dolphins?
Mature male great white sharks and many other types of sharks flaunt this behavior.
As a result, leading marine biologists believe that all sharks are afraid of dolphins.
Sharks see them as a threat and, as a result, will retreat whenever they come near.
Some species of dolphins can also produce a second sound that travels through the water at a different speed from the original sound.
It creates a cone-shaped area of silence around them which sharks can detect, but dolphins cannot because it originates from their rear and they have no way of detecting what is behind them.
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