Menstrual Cupaholic can sharks really smell your period blood, can you swim with sharks?
Tracy Jordan once said, "Live every week like it&aposs Shark Week, but what if that week falls on that time of the month when our uteruses bless us with cramps and increase the odds that we weep hot tears while watching The Bachelor?"Will sharks be drawn to you if you swim in the ocean while menstruating?Will they find you and eat you up?
Dr. Kajiura says the real test is behavioral.
Do sharks attack menstruating humans more than other humans?Kajiura does not have evidence of that.
It is not true that a shark can smell blood from a mile away.Period blood is not blood, even though sharks can detect it from a quarter of a mile away.Not just blood.
Periods have not changed much since the 90s according to The New Our Bodies, Ourselves.If it were true that your period could attract sharks, a shark would need to be able to smell blood mixed with non-aquatic mucus and sense particles of the uterus.
Maybe this isn't out of the realm of possibility.The amount of surface area in the snouts of sharks is a major factor in their being considered to be the best smellers.Does size matter?
The author of the book on the olfactory response of sharks was asked.She hooked sharks up to a device that gave them prey odors and then measured their electrical impulses in their nose.She weakened the concentration of prey odors to see how they could be picked up by a shark.shark can detect prey odors as little as one part per billion, but not better than other fish with similar schnozzes.The background scent level of the ocean is one part per billion.If a shark had a better sense of smell, they would be able to deal with the sound of chewing.
A shark would need to be able to smell blood mixed with non-aquatic mucus if it were true that your period could attract sharks.
There is a sensory arena where sharks excel.The sharks can detect tiny waves in the water.The shark has a science fiction-y and awesomely-named organ called the Ampullae of Lorenzini, which is located on the snout and ends in jelly-filled bulbs.The electric fields in the water are as small as five millionths of avolt per centimeter.The sharks use the amplifier of Lorenzini to navigate the ocean.All ocean-dwelling animals emit an electrical field: Muscle contractions release bioelectricity, and, as Dr. Kajiura says, "any animal in the ocean with a thin, leaky mucus membrane acts as a battery in seawater."While Dr. Kajiura was talking about gills, he could also have been referring to a vagina that was the least sexy description ever.
We have to determine the electric Conductivity of blood and mucus.The signal of our natural electric field would be carried further if blood conducts electricity.Red blood cells do not float in the water, but they do have a high level of activity.The flow of blood has an effect on the conductivity of the blood.The higher the speed, the better.Period "blood" is not flowing and is being removed from the inside of your uterus.It is also low on plasma, which reduces its ability to conduct electricity.
The leaky mucus membrane is the main electrical threat you pose.Humans have the same biolectric field as any other animal, but our skin insulates it.When the electrical charges of your body and seawater are connected by your Aunt Flo, you become a floating battery.You couldn't charge your phone off of your period, but a shark could still detect you.