How Do Sharks and Rays Use Electricity to Find Hidden Prey? | Deep Look
Ғылым және технология
When it comes to spotting prey, sharks and rays have a secret sense beyond sight and smell. Tiny goo-filled organs called Ampullae of Lorenzini detect the invisible electric fields produced by all living creatures.
DEEP LOOK: a new ultra-HD (4K) short video series created by KQED San Francisco and presented by PBS Digital Studios. See the unseen at the very edge of our visible world. Get a new perspective on our place in the universe and meet extraordinary new friends. Explore big scientific mysteries by going incredibly small.
How do Sharks and Rays Sense Electric Fields?
Most animals don’t have the ability to detect electric fields. But sharks, rays, skates and sawfish - members of a group called Elasmobranchii - are masters of detecting electric signals. It’s one of their defining features. Elasmobranchs have specialized organs called Ampullae of Lorenzini. These tiny structures allow them to home in on weak bioelectric fields generated by nearby prey.
Elasmobranch’s electrosensory organs are named after a 17th century Italian physician, Stefano Lorenzini, who first identified them while dissecting an electric ray. Lorenzini noticed dozens of tiny pores around the animal’s mouth. Each of the pores led to jelly-filled canals that ended in pocket-like structures that he called ampullae, the Latin word for a type of round-bottomed flask.
Animals emit low frequency electric fields due to a process known as osmoregulation. This process allows the concentration of ions (charged atoms or molecules) to flow between the inside of our bodies and the outside. In order for our cells to stay intact, the flow of ions needs to be balanced.
But balanced doesn’t necessarily mean equal. The concentration of ions within a shrimp’s body is much lower than that of the sea water it swims in. Their voltage, or potential difference generated between the two concentrations across “leaky” surfaces, can then be detected by the ampullae.
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Пікірлер: 248
So this is why sharks chew undersea cables?
@SirFancyPants21
7 жыл бұрын
Observing Rogue Many sharks also just eat whatever they can find, especially tiger sharks
@ImbaXtreme
7 жыл бұрын
Observing Rogue i think underwater cables are fiber optics
@ausintune9014
7 жыл бұрын
they are fibre optic and they produce no electric field
@notpulverman9660
7 жыл бұрын
Observing Rogue underwater fiber optic cables don't carry electricity
@notpulverman9660
7 жыл бұрын
(They carry light)
1:40 lol, poor bugger, bad day haha
@jmof0464
6 жыл бұрын
😂
@ThunderCollective
4 жыл бұрын
🤣
Love that high quality.
@KQEDDeepLook
9 жыл бұрын
Wojtek Kiraga Come back for more! We have some fun ones in production right now.
@mrstocks
8 жыл бұрын
+Deep Look No facts at the end ? :(
@jhayworth1234
2 жыл бұрын
TRUUU
People can have magnets implanted in their fingers which allow them to physically feel electric fields. They're not super sensitive but you can feel the fields around appliances and chargers, for example, or determine whether an item is magnetic.
@KQEDDeepLook
9 жыл бұрын
***** I guess it would be from the subcutaneous magnets moving, being pulled upon?
@notpulverman9660
7 жыл бұрын
That's just a form of touch.
@jr.researcherbarrett9018
5 жыл бұрын
You beat me to it. I've been considering subdermal magnetic implants for years but still cant decide. People who have them say it's more than just the sense of touch, that over time it allows them to feel the magnetic fields.
@KohlDayvhis
4 жыл бұрын
@@jr.researcherbarrett9018 That sounds awful lol, ever seen better call saul?
@kirklanyoshinaga8953
2 жыл бұрын
@@jr.researcherbarrett9018 I’d say that it’s one small step to becoming magneto. 😁
For us it's just a short video but behind this it's a huge hard work, many people's, lot of time, dedication..... Thanks for all your videos......
@educationforblind6362
Жыл бұрын
Its called just ampulla, not ampullae of lorenzini.
@ramgowda5859
Жыл бұрын
@@educationforblind6362 sorry, I didn't get you. Can i have alternate sentence
@educationforblind6362
Жыл бұрын
@@ramgowda5859 its called electroreceptors
These forms of life experience and measure a very different universe from us.
@notpulverman9660
7 жыл бұрын
It wouldn't work in air.
@robwalsh9843
3 жыл бұрын
They are much older than us for one thing.
Feeling electricity is like feeling warmth, i guess.
@brendapereda8841
4 жыл бұрын
its different they feel the ion change with specialised cells, not like us that we dont have it
@zarodgaming1844
4 жыл бұрын
and touch as well ... voice actress seems so hyped, she gonna be so disappointed if we can do this in the future xD
@VictorKDurand
2 жыл бұрын
interesting.. that's actually quite plausible indeed. @brenda, btw you're answering the "how does it work" which is very interesting in its own right. but @andrew was answering "how would it FEEL". different questions.
@andrewpotapenkoff7723
2 жыл бұрын
@@VictorKDurand Once during cold weather i was smoking at the entrance of my home, there were no wind, and i noticed that i can feel the heat from the building with my cheecks with my eyes closed, and i could actually tell where exactly and how far was the wall. That's why i'm thinking this analogy.
If you had taught me in science class I wouldve probably learned more
So wait, humans didn't invent radio... Stingrays and sharks did! ;)
@notpulverman9660
7 жыл бұрын
NOPE. The rays cannot interpret anything. They can only feel "there is something else there." The rays are only able to receive the signals, they cannot send information. So no.
@mabeloduro-tabi1084
3 жыл бұрын
Uhhh no they didn’t
Gorgeous and awesome video, like always! Keep the good quality, your videos are incredible!
@KQEDDeepLook
9 жыл бұрын
***** Thanks, Guilherme!
@educationforblind6362
Жыл бұрын
Its called just ampulla, not ampullae of lorenzini.
I read a study on this exact thing. The ampullae are filled with a gel that acts as a thermo-electric semi-conductor. This means that As electric fields affect the fluid, it heats and expands ever so slightly, and that is how the sharks can "feel" electricity. The shark feels the expansion and heat from the semi-conductor that fills the ampullae.
Your work is really incredible, amazing, I love it; one of the best channels I've found, the music fits really well with every situation , the narrative is nice to listen and the best is the incredible scenes and macro shots in every single video. Thank you for this really good work.
Hi, I’m Josh Cassidy and I produced this episode of Deep Look. Check out this article to learn more about how sharks and rays sense electric fields (goo.gl/FKNCM9). You can also check out Steven Kajiura’s experiments into elasmobranch electroreception (www.science.fau.edu/sharklab/pages/research.html) at Florida Atlantic University and Marine Science Institute's work to teach students about SF Bay Area marine wildlife (www.sfbaymsi.org/index.html). Let me know if you have any questions. Cheers!
@brandonhall6084
8 жыл бұрын
These videos are amazing! and the amount of interaction you guys have with your audience is incredible. Keep up the good work!
@joshcassidy7270
8 жыл бұрын
Thank you very much. We love making these shows.
@SunnyApples
7 жыл бұрын
You did an amazing job!
What strikes me as fascinating is how the ampulae remind me of an eye. Socket filled with a jelly like medium and lined with electro-sensitive cells. It's almost like they see the electric pulses as blinking beacons.
This channel is really a gem on KZread, great content!
I love it when the second they flipped the switch the Ray immediately lamps on the spot. Or was it just nice editing, either way it's halirous
I learned about ampulae from Endless Ocean 2. It's a shame those games weren't more popular. They were so informative!
I wish there were more subscribers. i guess i can share this around. i really love the vivid style thats done here
liked the script and the approach on this one. "so how does it feel to feel electricity? We don't know, we can't" :)
Love your channel! How about a video on horseshoe crabs, the "living fossils" and their surprisingly primitive immune system?
I just want to say... I subscribed in 2017... but now I'm going back to watch all your content because of how amazing they are! and yes... I am spreading the word!
Very cool video, as always. As sorry as I feel for the fish at 1:38, can't deny it's kinda funny...like it's been put on a clothes line underwater or something lol
Zero dislikes. Congratulations!
I just learned something today! Thank you 💛
This is really beneficial to visualize and simplify the Ielts listening test, part 4 as it is mostly about popular science, the hardest section to achieve expected points. This test is becoming increasingly popular in Vietnam.
HIGH QUALITY VIDEOS GUYS! love your content
There is also evidence that the ampuli can detect temperature changes of as little as 1 millionth of a degree, probably Celsius
waow this is gorgeous and very educational. i feel like a smart now!!!
@KQEDDeepLook
7 жыл бұрын
Jacklyn I am sure you were already smart, but now you have a new story to share.
oh my gosh, super coool!
The colour spectrum is just the increasing (or decreasing) wavelength/frequency of EM waves. Maybe these Elasmobranchs have different colours for electricity. Also the most interesting part is that when a human senses something from afar, the receptors are densely packed into organs (retina, eardrum, nasal membrane) but our skin has receptors all over giving us a more tactile experience to things that we can touch. Since the electro receptors are spread across the body, does that mean the animal 'feels' the electricity in the way we feel objects? Does it feel like they are touching everything nearby without actually coming into contact with it?
Its based on my faulty human perceptions and logic, but I would imagine it would be kinda like pins-and-needles. A sort of tingling, prickly sensation.
Hey, guys, I'M INLOVE WITH YOUR WORK! Your clips are awesome, thanks a lot for this! Wolud you like to make videos with spanish too?
highest quality content. thanks!
this is great tbh
The canal transmits the electricity in the same way the optic fiber works, that's amazing!!!
@educationforblind6362
Жыл бұрын
Its called just ampulla, not ampullae of lorenzini.
Wow! I already knew about electroreception and my mind was still blown!
@KQEDDeepLook
4 жыл бұрын
Thanks Vivian!
Amazing!
@KQEDDeepLook
9 жыл бұрын
SpidearPlays Thanks!
The rays face is adorable
Thank you. Very educational.
"None of this explains what it's like to feel electricity" This feel like lightning strike envy to anyone else?
Evolution is incredible!
so that is a fish detecting RAYdar......amazing
I love this channel high quality love it
The tied up fish is hilarious to me for some reason
*just love your videos* *pz do bring more of these* 😉
Great video! Just a couple of pronounciation tips: "Stefano" is actually pronounced with the stress on the first syllable (STEfano) and "ampullae" is pronounced with the stress on the second syllable (amPULlae) Keep up with the good job!
@jmof0464
6 жыл бұрын
Alessandro Rossi in
@santiagocarreno5881
5 жыл бұрын
If you have to correct such a minimal insignificant thing, is because you are sore loser
Amazing video!
This Channel should be 1 Million subs.
I'm reminded of a story I heard about someone who had a magnet surgically implanted into his fingertip. It let him sense electromagnetic fields, which actually turned out to be kind of a pain considering all the electronic and electrical devices we use. Something as simple as using the microwave could be a painful experience if it caused the magnet to flip over under his skin. I think he eventually had the magnet removed, but I can't quite recall.
@educationforblind6362
Жыл бұрын
Its called just ampulla, not ampullae of lorenzini.
i learn something new today yay
Only 39 comments? These videos are awesome!
Wonderful content. Thanks for uploading.
@KQEDDeepLook
7 жыл бұрын
You are welcome, Carlos.
Thank you
Oh, I'm gonna miss Lauren sooooo much 😭😭😭😭
Your awesome Amy keep the vlogs coming please
I love your guys channel so much
Love it I'm gonna subscribe it
This channel deserves more subscribers and views. Quality over quantity.
He is mouthing some words!
Awesome videos keep it up
I'm pretty sure that 1 dislike from PETA.
@thatpersonwhostaresatyouac6348
8 жыл бұрын
PETA is so butt hurt over everything
@mopeluso1
6 жыл бұрын
YleetsTV I hate peta
so this is the ninth sense, after proprioception nociception I was looking for this for a while, and there are other senses, like elephants and sub audible sound seeing infrared etc
That,s awesome!
An idea I have to help is to replicate what the scientists did with the Ray but on a larger scale. Use the pulses to draw them away from the nets, or fishing locals as a whole, this tactic may require a bit of troubleshooting but its simple and it doesnt hurt anything.
You ever step out of a vehicle when the battery is low it has a way of letting you know it too gets me every time. that’s my electric 6th sense
It probably feels similar to when you touch a highly charged balloon, like if you rub a balloon on a carpet. The difference being Sharks and Rays would be much more sensitive to this sensation.
Why don’t they study an electric field that deters sharks and make it a wristband for surfers
Josh Cassidy, thank you! Keep up good work!
They can detect electricity...? So no wonder sharks dislike magnesium and avoid it. It probably overrides their senses, and causes them to panic.
we can detect it easily like a simple.tingling jolt.
Amazing
Rays are just fascinating creatures.
@KQEDDeepLook
7 жыл бұрын
We agree!
Channel needs more subscriberssss
So this is why a baby shark ate my phone.
I love this thing of other animals' senses. Usefull for worldbuilding, believe me. When creating animals, I think on how they "see" their worlds with different senses. Maybe their hearing is so complex that the can form 3d images in their heads, like bats. Or maybe they smell chemicals that help them in comunication, like ants do. Or even maybe their major sense is the on of toutch, and the can feel the most sutile vibrations, like elephants. Or, if all the other animals produce electromagnetism, thats the best thing to feel.
Cool stuff. Instant subscribe.
@KQEDDeepLook
8 жыл бұрын
+Giap Chin Thanks for watching and subscribing!!
So when the tv is turned or or my phone dies, I can feel that. Or in my phones case the lack of. Sometimes I can even here the tv being turned on. It feels similar to someone else being in the room with you that you can’t see. That spike or absence of electricity.
It's mostly like smell since it can detect deferent frequencies of electricity.
That would be quite a way to say “Will you Marry Me?” Spelled out in stingray. Ok John she’s looking! Flip the switch!
Us humans do have that ability. We just need to pay attention to it.
I think it feels just like electrical vibrations, but not painful.
C est tro coooooouuuuul
Whoa😮
Use the electrical force!
Sea pancake or ray ravioli. Either way they are cute as heck. .w.
An extra sense that we don't have: ideas for robotics 👍
@notpulverman9660
7 жыл бұрын
It would only work underwater.
@Edited6
6 жыл бұрын
@Not Pulverman Salt water is a great conductor, lending itself well to such evolutionary adaptions. So the vast majority of animals capable of this are aquatic. But electric fields exist everywhere and their are exceptions in nature such as spiny anteaters and bees. Although in regards to OP, we already have tools capable of detecting electric fields. Not sure what new application that would have in robotics. If you were hoping to harness and "feel" that sixth sense you could implant a magnet in your pinky, it lets you feel the electric fields around live wires and appliances and stuff.
them sharks are gettin high in ways we cant even comprehend man
The sense of electrical wave is trained on Electronic Engineering BS degree students, so that they can see the semi-circular smith chart of wave reflection and phase shift around the antenna spokes/spikes. That is not what ordinary people can see. Most people with a high school diploma, knows the magnetic field flux lines with a DC current passing through a metal rod/wire. But high school diploma does not teach you how to see the phase shifts/amplification/cancelations.
Their skin is like one giant eye that can only see electric fields.
Excellent content! Thanks for posting. The narrator didn't sound like an overly caffeinated millennial trying to capture the attention of Twitter junkie humming bird.
Is it possible to create an electrical current nullifying net? Cause in some beaches they use nets to keep sharks away and I think a net like this can do a better job.
amazing in 2018 :)
Since it's based on frequency but not focused, it probably is processed much like sound.
I can't help but wonder how a ray hunts its prey, they seem so sluggish..
@ericfan6408
7 жыл бұрын
They hunt prey more sluggish than they are like crustaceans.
@sweetjaysus4507
7 жыл бұрын
most or some bury themselves into sand a little to hide and they use those electric-field senses to feel when something smaller or bigger is above them. if its bigger they close their eyes to camouflage into the sand, and if it's smaller, they leap from the sand towards them, the fast burst of movement creates a vacuum-like pressure beneath them so just as fast as they move toward prey, the prey is pulled toward their mouths they're ambush predators so they don't need speed, they use surprise Ray...the ninja clan of the Elasmobranchii
@MrViniSV
7 жыл бұрын
yeah, I can see that being the case thank you wise shinobi of random knowledge
If you could feel electricity try going into a building full of batteries or building that uses a lot of electricity or basically any building. Either way you are going to feel a lot of stuff. Must be annoying.
Rays are cooler than I thought.
How do you get this type of shots and quality?
3:03 3:25 Humans have Magnetite crystals in the brain similar to Bacteria. P.S. This is a stingray not electricray Playtapus has electroreceptors
Does this mean you could throw a battery in the water while you're surfing to distract a shark?
That ray sure does have a beard