Sharks don't talk. They don’t bark, they don't howl, and they definitely don’t scream when they're chasing a seal.
If you’ve spent any time watching Hollywood blockbusters like Jaws or The Meg, you’ve probably heard some terrifying, guttural roars coming from the water. It’s effective for a jump scare. It’s also completely fake. Biologically speaking, sharks are some of the quietest creatures on the planet. They literally lack the hardware to make noise. Unlike dolphins, which use blowholes to whistle and click, or whales that sing using a complex laryngeal structure, sharks have no vocal cords. They don’t even have lungs to push air through. They are silent.
But "silent" is a tricky word in the ocean.
While we can definitively say that what sounds do sharks make is "nothing vocal," that doesn't mean they are invisible to the ears of other marine life. The ocean is a noisy place, and even a silent predator leaves a footprint.
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The Science of Silence: Why Sharks Can't Scream
To understand why sharks are mute, you have to look at their anatomy. Most "noisy" animals are mammals or bony fish. Bony fish often have a swim bladder—a gas-filled sac used for buoyancy—that they can vibrate using specialized muscles to create drumming or croaking sounds. Sharks are cartilaginous. They don't have swim bladders; they have massive, oil-filled livers to keep them from sinking. No bladder, no drumming. No lungs, no vocalizing.
They are the ultimate ninjas of the sea.
Dr. Phillip Lobel, a biology professor at Boston University who has spent decades recording fish sounds, has noted that while many fish are surprisingly chatty, sharks remain the outliers. They've evolved for millions of years to be stealth hunters. If you're an apex predator that relies on an ambush, evolution isn't going to give you a loud mouth. It would be like a sniper wearing bells on their shoes.
The Noises They "Accidentally" Make
Even though they don't have a voice box, sharks aren't ghosts. They are physical objects moving through a dense medium. Think about a car. An electric car has no engine roar, but you can still hear the tires on the pavement and the wind rushing over the frame.
Sharks make "mechanical" sounds.
When a Great White or a Mako breaches the surface and slams back down, it creates a thunderous slap that can be heard for miles underwater. This isn't a "call," but it is a sound. There is also evidence that the frantic movement of a shark during a high-speed pursuit creates hydrodynamic turbulence. Scientists use high-sensitivity hydrophones to pick up these low-frequency vibrations. It's less of a "noise" and more of a pressure wave.
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Then there’s the crunch.
If you've ever seen footage from the Discovery Channel of a shark feeding, you’ve heard it. The sound of serrated teeth sawing through bone and cartilage is incredibly loud underwater. It’s a grisly, mechanical grinding. In some species, like the Port Jackson shark, which specializes in eating hard-shelled mollusks and crustaceans, the sound of their "crushing plates" (specialized teeth) can be heard by divers nearby. Again, they aren't making the sound intentionally to communicate; it’s just a byproduct of dinner.
Do They Use Sound to Communicate?
If they can't talk, how do they talk? They don't. At least, not with audio.
Sharks communicate through a complex "body dance." This is something divers and researchers like those at the Pelagios Kakunjá research center study closely. A shark might arch its back, lower its pectoral fins, or swim in a tight S-pattern. These are all signals. They say "back off" or "this is my territory" without needing to make a peep.
Interestingly, while they don't make noise, they are incredibly sensitive to it. They have an internal ear that can detect very low-frequency sounds—the kind of sounds a wounded fish makes. They are essentially giant ears with teeth. They can hear a struggling prey item from over two fields away.
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The Case of the "Barking" Shark
There is one weird exception people always bring up: the "Barking Shark."
This is usually a nickname for the Basking Shark. When these massive, plankton-eating giants are hauled out of the water (which rarely happens now due to conservation laws), the air escaping their bodies can sometimes sound like a groan or a cough. It’s not a bark. It’s basically a giant, accidental burp caused by gravity and changing pressure. It has nothing to do with communication and everything to do with the physics of a 10,000-pound animal being where it’s not supposed to be.
Why This Matters for Marine Conservation
Understanding the silence of sharks is actually vital for protecting them. Because they are silent and often solitary, they are hard to track. Researchers can't just drop a microphone in the water to count sharks like they do with humpback whales. Instead, they have to rely on expensive satellite tagging and visual surveys.
The fact that sharks are silent also makes them vulnerable to "noise pollution." Shipping lanes, sonar, and underwater construction create a chaotic acoustic environment. Since sharks rely on their hearing to find food, our noise might be "blinding" them.
Practical Insights for Divers and Ocean Lovers
If you're ever in the water and you think you hear a shark, you’re probably wrong. You’re likely hearing the clicking of snapping shrimp, the grunts of toadfish, or your own bubbles.
Here is what you actually need to know about the "sounds" of sharks:
- Don't trust the movies: Any shark making a vocalization on screen is purely for dramatic effect. If a shark is near you, you won't hear it coming.
- Vibrations are key: Sharks are attracted to "irregular" low-frequency sounds. Splashing frantically in the water mimics the vibration of a distressed fish. If you see a shark, move smoothly and quietly.
- Watch the body language: Since they can't growl to warn you, they use their fins. A shark with its pectoral fins pointed straight down is a shark that is agitated.
- Respect the silence: The silent nature of sharks is part of their role as the "cleaners" of the ocean. They remove the weak and the sick without causing a commotion, keeping the ecosystem in balance.
The reality of what sounds do sharks make is that they are the quietest neighbors in the sea. Their silence isn't an absence of life; it's a specialized tool for survival. To truly "hear" a shark, you have to watch the way it moves and respect the millions of years of evolution that stripped away its voice to make it a better hunter.
If you're looking to learn more about shark behavior, your best bet is to look into the work of the International Shark Attack File (ISAF) for data on interactions or follow the research coming out of the Bimini Biological Field Station (Shark Lab). They do incredible work documenting how these animals interact in the wild without ever saying a word.
To help protect these silent predators, support organizations that advocate for "quiet oceans" initiatives, which aim to reduce the impact of industrial noise on marine life. Avoiding unnecessary splashing when swimming in known shark territories is also a simple, effective way to remain "off the radar" of their highly sensitive internal ears.