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Home > Shark Anatomy > Hydrodynamics and Performance Shark AnatomyHydrodynamics and PerformanceA famous aircraft-builder was fond of saying that "a good plane is a plane that is nice to look at", alluding to the parallel between aerodynamic performance and aestheticism. In the same way we could say that a good marine predator is an animal with harmonious structure. Any diver who has seen a shark at least once in his or her life has been struck by the purity of its lines and the suppleness of its movements, which make it unquestionably the best endowed of fish for slow or rapid swimming, acceleration or pursuit, cruising or hunting. Here again the shark's adaptation to its environment is flawless, in the streamlining of its body, the size and the positioning of its fins, and the shape and proportion of its tail. If the basic principles of aerodynamism and hydrodynamism are the same, water is nevertheless eight hundred times denser than air, and the shark's propulsion necessitates a locomotive power which is much more considerable in equivalent weight than that of a bird of prey in the air. Pages in this section are as follows: A Predator with Two Gears Variations and Adaptations |