3 ms·

A tuna is a seriously fast fish. Note that they rub at the back end of the shark, which is the obvious place to go. If the shark gets annoyed the tuna can get

A tuna is a seriously fast fish. Note that they rub at the back end of the shark, which is the obvious place to go. If the shark gets annoyed the tuna can get away rapidly and get a very decent head start before the shark has turned and got going. The sharks are probably not bothered about being used for grooming because it is reassuring to have your lunch check in and say hi occasionally. 6,000 camera deployments of two to three hours each. 117,000 individuals seen from 261 species. 106 rubbing behaviour samples spotted. The article doesn't quite get the rest of the stats sorted out, giving two percentages. Let's say there were roughly 50 tuna on shark rubbing sessions. Some tuna are nails and probably impressing the girly tuna!

Retric 4y ago
I don’t know that adult tuna are at much risk from these sharks. Not only are the tuna much faster, but both species are predictors of roughly the same weight with the sharks tending to be smaller and both preferring to hunt smaller fish. Younger or weak specimens could be, but yellowfin tuna presumably also occasionally chow down on significantly smaller sharks.
- w-ll 4y ago
  Tuna, Turnips, Trek
- mhb 4y ago
  Maybe the tuna have a way of knowing whether the sharks they use are hungry. Maybe they choose ones which have eaten recently.
  - devoutsalsa 4y ago
    "Jaws just ate Freddy. Sucks to be him, but hey, time for a massage!"
User23 4y ago
If you have the opportunity I strongly recommend visiting the Tuna tank at the Monterey Bay Aquarium during a feeding. Watching a fish the size of a VW Beetle swim 30 kilometers an hour is incredible.
- gerdesj 4y ago
  Many moons ago I lived in Cyprus and rather enjoyed windsurfing. I recall a rather lovely session off Evdhimou beach in around 1986ish. The wind was 4-6 and nearly directly onshore, surf about 3 foot, so ideal conditions for seriously fast blasts for miles before a gybe and then more of the same. I was sailing a Fanatic Bee - semi sinker and a 5.5m2 sail. I was doing a broad reach at full belt, bouncing over wave peaks, spray everywhere. That beach is very shallow - 1.5m (5') for about 1/2 mile or more and it is also basically quite flat. That means that waves are quite stable when you get there. I came in from around 2 miles out. I'm hooked in, poised over the water about 18" from my bum doing around 20 knots. I'm perfectly balancing a shit load of forces and feeling absolutely invincible. I then see a dorsal fin rise up out of the water behind me and I came close to voiding my bowels. The Med doesn't have many sharks but there are some. Great whites turn up from time to time. It was a porpoise. I ran for around a mile with several porpoises bouncing around in my wake. I would twitch my board and they responded and pissed about in my tiny wake. They would probably prefer a bigger wake to play in but I was the best offer at the time.

Retric 4y ago

I don’t know that adult tuna are at much risk from these sharks. Not only are the tuna much faster, but both species are predictors of roughly the same weight with the sharks tending to be smaller and both preferring to hunt smaller fish. Younger or weak specimens could be, but yellowfin tuna presumably also occasionally chow down on significantly smaller sharks.

w-ll 4y ago
Tuna, Turnips, Trek
mhb 4y ago
Maybe the tuna have a way of knowing whether the sharks they use are hungry. Maybe they choose ones which have eaten recently.
- devoutsalsa 4y ago
  "Jaws just ate Freddy. Sucks to be him, but hey, time for a massage!"

User23 4y ago

If you have the opportunity I strongly recommend visiting the Tuna tank at the Monterey Bay Aquarium during a feeding. Watching a fish the size of a VW Beetle swim 30 kilometers an hour is incredible.

gerdesj 4y ago
Many moons ago I lived in Cyprus and rather enjoyed windsurfing. I recall a rather lovely session off Evdhimou beach in around 1986ish. The wind was 4-6 and nearly directly onshore, surf about 3 foot, so ideal conditions for seriously fast blasts for miles before a gybe and then more of the same. I was sailing a Fanatic Bee - semi sinker and a 5.5m2 sail. I was doing a broad reach at full belt, bouncing over wave peaks, spray everywhere. That beach is very shallow - 1.5m (5') for about 1/2 mile or more and it is also basically quite flat. That means that waves are quite stable when you get there. I came in from around 2 miles out. I'm hooked in, poised over the water about 18" from my bum doing around 20 knots. I'm perfectly balancing a shit load of forces and feeling absolutely invincible. I then see a dorsal fin rise up out of the water behind me and I came close to voiding my bowels. The Med doesn't have many sharks but there are some. Great whites turn up from time to time. It was a porpoise. I ran for around a mile with several porpoises bouncing around in my wake. I would twitch my board and they responded and pissed about in my tiny wake. They would probably prefer a bigger wake to play in but I was the best offer at the time.