Barry White works magic on love-shy sharks

Scientists creating mood for Valentine's Day

Reuters — Feb. 13, 2002
LONDON, England — Despairing staff at a marine center in central England are going to extraordinary lengths to tempt their sharks to mate, playing them tunes by American love crooner Barry White.

With Valentine's Day just two days away, marine scientists at Birmingham's National Sealife Centre said on Tuesday they hoped the so-called "walrus of love" would get the love-shy creatures in the mood for romance.

"They haven't been mating, so we are hoping we can encourage them with a bit of romantic music as it's coming up to Valentine's Day," said marine biologist Karen Hewlett. "We are playing a variety of music from Barry White to modern pop classics."

The center, which boasts breeding success with many marine species, including seahorses, turned its attention to the sharks after U.S. research suggested they enjoyed music.

The Rowland Institute for Science in Cambridge, Mass., found fish processed songs in a similar way to humans and even appreciated different tunes and melodies.

Staff in Birmingham are pumping the music into the tanks of three species of small sharks: topes, dogfish, and starry smooth hounds.

Hewlett said it was not clear how long it would be before the music took effect but added success would be easy to judge. "In the early stages of shark courtship, the male will chase the female at high speed 'round the tank and attempt to bite her back and pectoral fin," she said.