'Shark's Eye' Cameras Reveal New Information About How They Swim, Eat, Survive [Video]

Using high-tech cameras, scientists have collected more data on how sharks live, swim and eat.

Researchers from the Universities of Hawaii and Tokyo conducted the new study by attaching complex sensors and video recorders to sharks out in the wild. They also used dispensable cameras that are meant to be ingested by sharks and other top-of-the-food-chain predators like tuna to gain new insight into their feeding habits. The instruments use electrical measurements to track ingestion and digestion of prey which can help researchers see what, where, when and how much sharks and other predators intake.

"What we are doing is really trying to fill out the detail of what their role is in the ocean," stated Carl Meyer, an assistant researcher at the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, according to Design & Trend. "It is all about getting a much deeper understanding of sharks' ecological role in the ocean, which is important to the health of the ocean and, by extension, to our own well-being."

The "shark's eye" video recordings, which are available on YouTube, reveal that sharks move in repetitive loops through the sea bed. A male was also seen pursuing a female shark and others were observed swimming in a mixed school of sharks, alongside hammerheads.

Contrary to the popular belief that sharks glide through the water, the footage proved that they actually power swim to move through the water. Furthermore, it was discovered that deep sea sharks move in slow motion compared to sharks in more shallow waters.

"These instrument packages are like flight data recorders for sharks," Meyer said in the release, reports Science Recorder. "They allow us to quantify a variety of different things that we haven't been able to quantify before. It has really drawn back the veil on what these animals do and answered some longstanding questions."

Until now, there was limited information on sharks compared to other marine animals because of their fearsome nature. However, the new study allowed scientists to observe sharks from a new perspective within their own habitats.