Hammerhead shark as electrometer front end

[fcb]

Does this sound right?  Hammerhead sharks can detect fields of around 1nV/M??

https://youtu.be/lgTbQlfOSKE?t=775

[bsfeechannel]

The only way to be sure is to connect a 1.5V battery between Long Island Sound and the waters of Florida and see if it detects it.

[Gyro]

The only way to be sure is to connect a 1.5V battery between Long Island Sound and the waters of Florida and see if it detects it.

Given the number of boats and ships around with sacrificial anodes, I think it would have a hell of a job.

I suspect that its response is low frequency AC rather than DC too. You don't want a hammerhead with uncontrolled drift!

[fcb]

The only way to be sure is to connect a 1.5V battery between Long Island Sound and the waters of Florida and see if it detects it.

Given the number of boats and ships around with sacrificial anodes, I think it would have a hell of a job.

I suspect that its response is low frequency AC rather than DC too. You don't want a hammerhead with uncontrolled drift!

Undoubtedly it will be tuned to pulses from muscles in prey, but that's still a hell of a front end, wonder what the bandwidth is, how it filters out noise and if there is a DC blinding effect?

[Alex Eisenhut]

Don't know about 1nV per meter... but

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ampullae_of_Lorenzini

"Sharks may be more sensitive to electric fields than any other animal, with a threshold of sensitivity as low as 5 nV/cm"

[Gyro]

Don't know about 1nV per meter... but

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ampullae_of_Lorenzini

"Sharks may be more sensitive to electric fields than any other animal, with a threshold of sensitivity as low as 5 nV/cm"

From the link, it looks as if Hammerheads have Geomagnetic sensing too. Given that they already have inherent biological accelerometers and gyroscopes, the only thing they're missing is GPS!

[bsfeechannel]

The only way to be sure is to connect a 1.5V battery between Long Island Sound and the waters of Florida and see if it detects it.

Given the number of boats and ships around with sacrificial anodes, I think it would have a hell of a job.

I suspect that its response is low frequency AC rather than DC too. You don't want a hammerhead with uncontrolled drift!

I guess they used that comparison in order to demonstrate the orders of magnitude involved to a lay audience. But if you have seen a hammerhead shark hunting, it searches for prey hidden in the sand, maintaining its receptors at a distance of no more than 10cm above the sea bed. These sharks know how to avoid interference.

Don't know about 1nV per meter... but

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ampullae_of_Lorenzini

"Sharks may be more sensitive to electric fields than any other animal, with a threshold of sensitivity as low as 5 nV/cm"

I think the OP's video got it wrong. They say 1nV/cm², however electric fields are expressed in V/m, not V/m². There's another video which claims that the receptors are capable of sensing 15nV of potential difference, regardless of distance.

[cdev]

That hammer head sure looks like an antenna or similar to me. this is pretty interesting. I am not a shark or even close. But I can sense small electric currents with my mouth.

[chickenHeadKnob]

. I am not a shark or even close. But I can sense small electric currents with my mouth.

This sounds impractical to me, if you try this at work.

[Refrigerator]

That hammer head sure looks like an antenna or similar to me. this is pretty interesting. I am not a shark or even close. But I can sense small electric currents with my mouth.

We've all licked a 9V battery.