In case anyone was worried, this is a Nurse Shark, one of the types of sharks that doesnāt need to swim forward to breathe!Ā It also doesnāt appear to be distressed at all, it seems like itās just chilling.
More evidence that fish can play.
Trust me, if a nurse shark doesnāt want something done to it, it WILL let you know. Very, very painfully. They donāt bite often, but they WILL bite when provoked and can deal out serious damage.
This shark is, indeed, just chilling.
Hey, @shadowmaat, was this what your prompt meant? XD
Nurse sharks are part of a group usually called Carpet Sharks because they have the ability to breathe whilst stationary rather than only through constant motion. This is because they can gulp water and the motion allows them to push it through their gills.
This particular shark is calm, relaxed, and having fun. If it wasnāt, not only would the diver have not interacted with the shark in the first place, the shark would also swim off or be violently flicking its tail about. This is also a female and, honestly, the way sheās responding to the diver is more like a bit of casual courting and āokay I guess this is how this one tries to mate huh but hey heās not biting me to hold on so this is coolā.
The thing about sharks is they can have fun and they are curious. Most shark bites are curiosity bites (think baby shoving everything in their mouths bc āhuh whatās thisā) and this shark is able to know that this particular human has no desire to hurt her, is happy to swim about with her, and basically the weird dancing is just entertainment.
Itās difficult sometimes, I think, for people to see this sort of thing and not think āthat animal is being exploited!ā when this is a form of enrichment for the animal. Fish especially are a challenge to provide enrichment for sometimes, just because theyāre not like big cats or wolves or other animals like mammals and reptiles. They donāt have hands, feet, or paws. You canāt enrich a sharks life just with things they can bite, not when sharks also are willing to swim close to divers, bump against stuff, swim alongside, breach the surface with their heads to look above the water, and so on.
This right here is honestly a great way to entertain the shark and also give her something non-stressful and not too unusual for her to adapt to (Iām not kidding about the weird and bitey way sharks uhmā¦ make more sharks).
Gods but Iād absolutely dive and dance with a shark ngl.
