The mystery of how sharks manage to naturally navigate seemingly straight lines in the chaotic ocean might have been solved thanks to a new study, which suggests that they may, in fact, be using their noses.
Their sense of smell may be so sensitive that they are able to sense the key chemical changes in the water as they swim toward their destination.
"We've known for a long time that sharks are capable of long distances migration. They travel long distances along fairly straight paths," Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Birch Aquarium researcher Andrew Nosal told Fox News. "That begged the question: how exactly do they do it? What sorts of cues do they use to find their way?"
The researchers caught 27 leopard sharks and released them six miles from the shore of California. Half of the sharks had their olfactory system, or sense of smell, impaired with petroleum jelly soaked cotton balls.
Those sharks were, on average, 37.2 percent closer to their target shores, but sharks with their smelling faculties in check were 62.6 percent closer on average, according to Science Daily.
"Even the sharks that we released in the offshore direction, they started to swim offshore initially. Within 30 minutes, they made a corrective U-turn and just bee lined it back to shore. They made it quite close to shore," said Nosal.
The study was published in the Jan. 6 issue of the journal PLOS ONE.
