An incredible new video shared on Twitter shows a diver underwater petting a shark’s nose. While surrounded by a number of other sharks, the diver looked completely unfazed by getting so close to the massive marine animal.
The minute-long clip begins by showing a man in a blue wetsuit gently petting the shark’s nose. After a few seconds, the shark then flips over allowing the man to rub its underbelly. Twitter user, @ScienceIsNew, posted the video with the caption: “Diver pets the nose of this shark…Would you do this?”
After uploading the video on social media, the clip garnered a mixed reaction from Twitter users. Some responded saying they had no desire to go swimming with a shark. However, others said they would love the opportunity to get up close and personal with the underwater predators.
A number of Twitter users also pointed out that the diver was deliberately touching the shark’s nose. However, they say he wasn’t simply petting it. “He is hypnotizing it,” one user wrote. “Not petting exactly.” Another user wrote echoed a similar sentiment. “Sharks have trigger points around the nose. Touching them there makes them fall in some kind of hypnotic status.
One Twitter user cited an article published on How Stuff Works, in which the author writes about shark’s unique noses. “Shark studies have even found that touching a shark’s snout can cause it to halt mid-motion and not attack. The reason could be the tiny electrical receptors called ampullae of Lorenzini that speckle the area around sharks’ noses and mouths.”
[H/T How Stuff Works]
