Sharks hunt huge school of fish off NY coast in ‘scary and beautiful’ aerial footage
Sharks chase fish all the time. They have to eat somehow, right? But sometimes, the hunt creates a kaleidoscope of changing patterns that make the normally average activity one to admire — at the terrified fish’s expense.
Aerial footage captured by local newspaper the Rockaway Times on Nov. 29 shows the aquatic dance in the waters off the Rockaways in Queens, New York.
“SHARKS! chasing bunker fish,” the video’s caption posted on Twitter reads. “As Robbie Ostrander, our fave photog says, ‘This is some National Geographic s–t.’ Scary and beautiful.”
Queens College biology professor John Waldman told the New York Post that bunker fish head south this time of year to reach warmer waters, “which is why we’re seeing them migrating now along our beaches.”
“Bunker along the Rockaways have [also] attracted Humpback whales inshore close to the beach that have been ‘lunge feeding’ through them, scooping up hundreds at a time,” Waldman said, according to the Post.
Bunker fish is a common nickname for the actual species name of “menhaden.” They play an important role in the marine ecosystem, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries.
Menhaden serve as bait for blue crab and lobster, among other species, are harvested for use as fertilizers and animal feed, and they are a “major source of omega-3 fatty acids, so they are also used to develop human and animal supplements,” the agency said.
This story was originally published December 2, 2020 at 12:46 PM with the headline "Sharks hunt huge school of fish off NY coast in ‘scary and beautiful’ aerial footage."
