Sharkie
Science brain teasers require understanding of the physical or biological world and the laws that govern it.
Dan and his best friend Dave were out fishing when they noticed a shark circling their dinghy. Whenever they tried to move the boat, the shark would barge into it, nearly causing it to capsize. "Never mind," said Dan. "If we wait long enough, it'll get tired, and while it's asleep we can sneak away."
Was this good advice?
Answer
No; sharks don't sleep.
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Comments
speedyg1000 
Jan 11, 2003
| I thought they did...just with their eyes open. |
jonnyonline
Jan 16, 2003
| Don't they get tired? Maybe we should stop dumping caffeine into the ocean. |
Princess_Neopia
Jan 19, 2003
| Julia's right. Sharks don't sleep because if they did they would sink to the bottom of the ocean/sea that they are in and are unable to get up, They then starve to death if they don't find enough scraps to survive. Great teaser. |
Asbestos
Jan 29, 2003
| Actually, while it is certain that they have to keep moving (except for nurse sharks, which have a special mechanism around their eyes to pump water to their gills), it is still deabted whether the sharks sleep or not. It is certain that they go into a deep rest phase, in which they still move instinctively. |
dancergal1191
Feb 23, 2003
| way too easy, at least to me
|
penial
Feb 24, 2003
|
Throw some chum Dave |
Kougra
Jun 20, 2003
| When you say "sneak" didn't you mean walk? I mean you are in the middle of the sea, you can't sneak away, you would "row" away in the boat? |
7catac7  
Oct 25, 2003
| lol, I guess I don't know much about sharks, do I? |
Gander
Aug 01, 2004
| I would like to know why Dan and Dave were fishing in shark infested waters in just a dinghy? 
I zero'd in on the answer without swimming around any.  |
drussel3
Jun 11, 2005
| Thanks, I learned something. |
Warrior_Poet
Jan 19, 2006
| actually sharks, like many other fishes, do "sleep" though they don't lose consciousness. Instead, one half of their brain sleeps at a time, in a sort of "keeping watch" system. |
cyberstar5150
Jul 20, 2006
| This was in a Mensa puzzle book... verbatim. |
vbguy101
Sep 02, 2006
| That's a negative. Studies have shown that some species of sharks DO sleep, including the nurse shark |
dunchen22
Jun 14, 2007
| Though the shark will realize the boat is not food and lose interest very quickly to find real food (sharks don't even like human taste, which is why there are no documented cases of a human actually being eaten, only bitten and sometimes fatally). It is very good advice to say "wait." |
crocodile  
Sep 22, 2009
| Sharks DO sleep, but here's an interesting fact for you: Sharks never suffer illnesses of any sort. Great Job! |
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