Reef Sharks have friends and even go out for a bite together.

Far from being solitary animals, they gather in groups in the morning

Sharks have more complex social lives than previously known, as shown by a study finding that grey reef sharks in the Pacific Ocean cultivate surprising social networks with one another and develop bonds that can endure for years.

Far from being solitary creatures, the sharks formed social communities that remained rather stable over time, with some of the same individuals remaining together during the four years of the study.

The sharks cultivated a daily pattern, spending mornings together in groups of sometimes close to 20 individuals in the same part of the reef, dispersing throughout the day and into the night, and reconvening the next morning. The study reveals for the first time that sharks are actually capable of maintaining social partners for multiple years. They are capable of recognizing particular group mates and having social preferences. The researchers suspect the sharks hang out together because it may help ensure that the various individuals find prey

“Sharks are incredible animals and still quite misunderstood,” said Florida International University marine biologist Yannis Papastamatiou, lead author of the research published this week in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society.

This surprising sociality of grey sharks bore similarities in terms of stability over time to certain birds and mammals but differed in that it did not involve nesting, mating, making vocalizations or friendly interactions.

Revealing the secret lives of sharks offer a possible mechanism for a longterm social structure — namely that social groups likely operate as information centres from which individuals can follow one another to offshore feeding areas.”