Can You Guess Sharks' Favorite Music Genre? Sounds Like a Joke but is Actually Science

by N/A, 10 years ago | 2 min read

A documentary crew for a Shark Week show titled "Bride of Jaws" came across some interesting finds when it comes to the terror of sharks and death metal music. Sharks are actually attracted to the sound of death metal music, and not just because of the name of the genre or the topic of the lyrics, but because of the musical science that goes into creating such tunes.

So, again, to reiterate, this article is not about how death metal and death by sharks correlate, unless you tempt them with such.

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First what they did was get a military underwater speaker to pump out the music into the airwaves(?) of underwater.

The idea is that sharks feel vibrations through a sensory organ that runs from their head right down to the side of the body to the tail fin. So, playing music is like feeling the vibrations of a struggling animal, which, as you know, a shark would love to come across and dismantle.

That's what makes this discovery from Discovery so terrifying. The crew suspended themselves below water right next to the sound machine, which again, reminds sharks of what's for lunch.

That speaker is supposedly what's going to get sharks to come around, and they're all pretending to be ready for it. The crew announces to the man on the boat in charge of the music: "Okay, I'm ready. Let's play your favorite tune."

That's when the blasting of Dark Hysteria (death metal band) begins.

At this point the crew wasn't really sure what music was going to be played, so hearing death metal may have come as a surprise, but it works. It works too well if you're afraid of sharks that is.

Because, one comes up immediately. A 12-footer thinking it's just come across a nice meal, only to be met by the thrashing beat of death metal.

And this is not the only one that felt the vibrations of what would normally be a call for food. The crew gets a glimpse at a great white shark that would scare the life out of anybody that comes across it.

This 14-footer came swimming in, only to be disappointed to find death metal rather than dinner.

Well, disappointed may be the wrong word, because the death metal is what lead the shark here in the first place. However, it definitely wanted food instead, and that's obvious.

You can watch the full Discovery outing and get all the information as to why sharks prefer death metal by watching this short video clip:

Well, there you have it–next time you go scuba diving or venture anywhere you may think a Jaws threat is imminent, there's just one thing you have to do: don't play death metal (or flop around like a helpless animal). That'll get you eaten real quick.