Silly Shark Swims on Back

In early October, a charter boat took a group of shark watchers offshore of Lincoln, South Australia. There, tourist Wendy Bower-Leech recorded a Great White Shark swimming on the surface on its back. Why? Global News explains:

Sharks do not typically swim upside down. However, they do flip over on rare occasions to assume a position known as tonic immobility, according to the Shark Trust, a U.K.-based non-profit dedicated to promoting shark conservation.

Tonic immobility puts the shark into a relaxed, trance-like state, according to the Shark Trust. Biologists often use this technique when handling much smaller sharks.

-via Ian Miles Cheong