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Ability to detect the smallest of electric fields
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The shark’s body acts as a dipole (one positive end, one
negative end) and thus produces an electric field
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Electric fields are perceived by fragile, jelly-filled electroreceptors
called ‘ampullae of Lorenzini’
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When an alien field approaches within a few meters of the
shark, it distorts this field thus allowing the shark to sense things it
might not otherwise be able to see, hear or smell
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This ability to sense weak electrical voltages, as low as
0.005 microvolts per centimeter, also allows sharks to navigate with the
earth’s magnetic field
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