One of the
most interesting animals in the sea is the hammerhead shark. Why should
such an awkward looking head be present on a fish that depends on
eating other fish for its survival? Those opposed to the notion that
God has designed living things have long ridiculed this odd shape as
being a proof that there is no intelligent design in living things
maintaining that it was not a good shape for swimming rapidly through
the water. It is almost a universal truth that when you see something
in an animal in nature that does not make sense, it is because you do
not have a full awareness of all of the factors that are involved in
the animal’s survival. This certainly has been shown to be true in the
hammerhead’s situation.
Dr. Jayne Gardiner at the University of South Florida has headed up a
study to learn more about how the hammerhead functions. It turns out
that the nostrils of the shark are located at the ends of the flat
areas of the shark’s head. That means that when the odor of a food
source comes to the shark it will come to the nostrils at different
times. If the right nostril gets the smell a half second before the
left nostril, the shark will turn to the right towards the source of
the smell. If there is no delay or a very long delay between when the
two nostrils get the smell, the shark will not change its direction.
You might call it “stereo smelling.”
The use of smell instead of sight or motion vibrations should be
obvious. Muddy water, waves crashing, or any number of other
distractions will not interfere with the hammerhead finding its food.
It is an eloquently designed system with great sensitivity that
involves not only the sensory organs at the ends of the hammer head
section of the shark’s body, but also the brain to interpret and direct
the use of the information the sensory organs give.
Source: National Wildlife,
October/November 2010, page 10.
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