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American Morning

Aquarium Pipes Barry White Music to Sharks to Inspire Mating

Aired February 14, 2002 - 09:50   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: It's Valentines Day, and of course, no one can put people in just the right mood like the guru of love, Barry White. That may good news for a group of sharks -- that's right, sharks -- in England who so far are refusing to mate. Officials at an aquarium in Birmingham are piping music from Barry White into the shark tank, hoping his love songs will give their fins a lift. It works for humans, so why wouldn't it work for the big fish?

Josie Sutherland is a curator at National Sea Life Center, and she joins us now from Birmingham, England.

Thanks very much for being with us this morning.

I got to ask you.

JOSIE SUTHERLAND, NATIONAL SEA LIFE CENTER: You're welcome.

COOPER: Why are you pumping Barry White music into the shark tanks?

SUTHERLAND: Like you said, it's an attempt to get them to breed. In Massachusetts, they've done a study over the last four years with carp, and they found that the fish were reacting to music in the same way that humans do. So we thought with Valentine's Day coming up, we would try Barry White in an attempt to encourage them to breed.

COOPER: This is actually based on research that, as you said, was done in Massachusetts. Tell us a little bit about that research.

SUTHERLAND: They did it over a four-year period. And they were using classical music, things like Schubert. And they found that -- the species they were using different kinds of carp. And the fish were reacting in different moods depending on the kind of music. They were breeding more regularly and behaving differently to different types of music.

(CROSSTALK)

COOPER: Why are the sharks having trouble getting it on?

SUTHERLAND: I'm not sure, because the other species in this tank have had pups. The (UNINTELLIGIBLE) have been having pups, and the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) have been laying eggs. The bullheads have laid eggs. But the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) sharks that we're interested in today just haven't bred since we have had them. They've been here six years, and they still haven't had any pups yet.

COOPER: What are the mating rituals of sharks? I'm not familiar with them.

SUTHERLAND: The males chase the females around when they are getting frisky, and they grab hold of their fins, to hold onto them, and they mate (UNINTELLIGIBLE). The females go through a bit of an ordeal because it's quite rough. They have got extra thick skin so they can cope with that. Depends on the species, but it can be from nine months to 22 months gestation period, and then they have some young -- hopefully, that's what we will see.

COOPER: I think we're going to try a little bit of an experiment of our own. I think we're going play a Barry White song. I think we're going to play the song "Staying Power." We'll play that a little bit and see if we get any rise out of the sharks.

All right, ave you seen any reaction there among the shark population?

SUTHERLAND: I think you would have to play it for longer. It's very sensual, though, isn't it.

COOPER: We wish you a lot of luck with this experiment. I hope it works for you.

SUTHERLAND: Thank you very much.

COOPER: You have 10 sharks, and wish you a lot of luck. Thanks very much for joining us this morning.

SUTHERLAND: That's right. Thank you.

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