The reason the shark likes to bite the optical cable

Sharks often bite the fiber cable under the seabed attracted by electric current in the cable or curious about strange objects.

Sharks that attack the undersea fiber optic cable are quite common. According to the 1987 New York Times article, the first evidence of shark's biting behavior was demonstrated on a test cable off the Canary Islands.

James M. Barrett, former vice president of international engineering at the US Telecoms and Telegraph Company (AT&T), said about 88,500 - 96,500km of old undersea cable made from copper without a shark bite. Sharks are particularly fond of chewing optical fiber.

The image of a shark biting the undersea fiber optic cable is recorded by unmanned diving equipment.(Photo: YouTube).

Most experts believe that electricity flows through fiber optic cables to attract sharks, stimulating their appetite. Sharks have voltage sensors in their mouths to find prey, so they can confuse fiber optic cables with food.

Dr. Chris Lowe, one of the founders of the Shark Laboratory at the University of California, Long Beach, said sharks attacked the cable for another reason. According to Dr. Lowe, sharks may be curious about fiber optic cables. " If you leave a piece of plastic shaped like a fiber optic cable, they are more likely to bite that piece of plastic," Forbes quoted Dr. Lowe as saying. The undersea fiber optic cable is also vulnerable to ship anchorages and earthquakes.

In response to the attacks of fiber optic cable from sharks, the US company Google invested US $ 300 million in the undersea fiber optic cable system called FASTER in August 2014. FASTER cable system not only provides higher speed transmission for Asian countries but also covers materials similar to Kevlar fiber which is used to make bulletproof armor. The strength of Kevlar is expected to counter shark bites, protecting the important optical cable at the bottom of the sea.