Researchers Discover Sharks with Unusual Diet

A new study revealed that a certain shark species is omnivorous, which means it can feed on both animals and plants. For three weeks, researchers from the University of California, Irvine, and Florida International University studied bonnethead / ˈbɑːnəthɛd / sharks, relatives of hammerhead sharks. The researchers fed five captive sharks with a diet consisting of 90% seagrass and 10% squid. Afterward, the research team ran tests on the sharks to see how these animals responded to a plant-based diet. Based on the tests, the sharks were able to fully absorb about half of the nutrients present in the seagrass they ingested. With this result, the research team concluded that the bonnethead sharks are actually omnivorous and not dependent solely on meat. Additionally, the researchers pointed out that other shark species might have the capability to eat and digest plants as well. Furthermore, these results disproved previous assumptions about the bonnetheads’ diet. More than a decade ago, other researchers found plants in the sharks’ stomachs. Back then, experts thought that the bonnetheads inadvertently ingest seagrass while consuming marine animals. Despite the noteworthy results of the study, one scientist is not fully satisfied. Gavin Naylor, the director of the Florida Program for Shark Research, finds the research interesting yet insufficient. Specifically, he is not satisfied with the number of sharks observed and the duration of the experiment. According to Naylor, the sharks’ plant consumption could be brought about by stress. He said that for the results to be more convincing, the team should observe more bonnethead sharks for a period of at least six months.