Blood in the Water: Sharks Gain Palate For Lionfish

In a unique collaboration between sharks and divers, local Divemasters in Honduras are attempting to train the resident reef sharks to hunt and eat the invasive lionfish.

While the lionfish are not traditional prey for sharks, Divemasters and park officials have spent the last three months feeding dead lionfish to the toothy predators in the beautiful waters off of the Roatan Marine Park.

"Local dive masters familiar with the sharks decided to try to turn them on to eating invasive lionfish," stated underwater photographer Antonio Busiello, who has recorded the training efforts. "If these predators start to see lionfish as prey, eventually, in time the lionfish may be kept under control as a part of the ecosystem. That was the idea."

And while sharks often get a bad rapport with sayings like “a shark on the hunt”” or “there’s blood in the water,” it appears as though there is new blood in the warm waters of Honduras- lionfish blood.

For more information on this project and its amazing photos, check out the article as first reported by National Geographic.