It is no secret that animals have an uncanny ability to predict weather patterns.
Because of this, sharks can provide valuable insight into a hurricane before the storm is registered by meteorologists.
Meteorologists can predict a hurricane's path up to five days in advance of the storm making landfall. However, Florida Today reported that researchers believe sharks can predict a hurricane as much as two weeks before the storm hits. The marine animals sense a change in barometric pressure ahead of the approaching hurricane, and their response could provide a vital look into where and when a hurricane could develop.
Now, some experts are tagging sharks with satellite tags to capture oceanographic data that can aid in hurricane prediction, according to the report by Florida Today.
Florida Today reported that researchers said only a dozen sharks have been tagged with the technology, but the effort could be scaled to encompass thousands of sharks in the future.
However, AccuWeather told Newsweek in a statement that the weather forecasting company does not currently utilize sharks to predict hurricanes.
"We utilize a variety of ways to forecast hurricane track and intensity including the world's leading computer models combined with our decades of experience," AccuWeather director of forecast operations Dan DePodwin told Newsweek. "We are also always looking for and open to new methods. Although we do not currently utilize sharks to predict hurricanes, we recognize and applaud the current scientific research which seeks to utilize sharks as observation data points and see how this could benefit forecasts in the future."
Climate change has increased the severity and occurrence of hurricanes, and it is not uncommon for sharks to make headlines when a hurricane hits. A fake photo of a massive shark being washed ashore and then swimming down a flooded highway during a hurricane storm surge often resurfaces during hurricanes and gains traction online each time.
However, during Hurricane Ian, a 4-foot-long marine animal was sighted flopping around in a Florida backyard that had flooded from storm surge. At the time, experts couldn't determine if the animal was a shark or a large fish, but regardless of the species, it was likely that it sensed a drop in barometric pressure associated with the approaching hurricane and then accidentally entered a creek while attempting to flee shallow waters. Flooding then could have forced the animal into the neighborhood.
The animal's response to the hurricane is the same theory that has some experts wondering if sharks can help predict future storms.
The way a shark responds to an approaching hurricane depends on the species. Some sharks swim further out into the ocean where deeper waters will keep them safe from the hurricane. Others, such as larger species, may remain in place.
Forbes reported in 2021 that researchers claimed smaller sharks such as bull sharks, hammerhead sharks and nurse sharks were most likely to flee shallow waters in search of deeper, safer water.
However, larger sharks such as tiger sharks performed in a completely opposite manner. Forbes reported that when Hurricane Matthew pummeled the Bahamas in 2016, tiger sharks stayed in their shallow water environment.
The Forbes report goes on to add that the tiger sharks were feasting on dead animals left over by the storm.
Newsweek reached out to ocean data organization OCEARCH and to Simon Thorrold, a senior scientist in the biology department at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution for comment.
