Watch What Happens When Scuba Divers Touch a Shark's Nose

Trying to subdue a shark is probably not the safest of things to do for fun, but if you're ever in a shark attack situation and are able to strike the animal's nose, some say it might actually stop it in its tracks.

Scuba divers off the coast of the Bahamas recently demonstrated this trick, putting a shark in a trance-like state.

Image source: YouTube

The divers, wearing metal mesh gloves, showed how touching the shark in its nose would stop it from moving.

Watch the footage:

Why does this simple act seem to stop a shark? How Stuff Works noted others who have experienced the same phenomenon with sharks and speculated it could have something to do with special electrical receptors in its nose.

Though not investigating a possible association with these receptors, the New York Times in 2005 reported that it was safer to go for a shark's eyes or gills, which are thought more sensitive, during an attack.

"If you miss the snout its mouth is unfortunately very close by," R. Aiden Martin, director of the Reefquest Center for Shark Research, told the Times.

Even still, a surfer off the coast of New Zealand said he punched a shark in the nose after he was bit last month and was able to swim away.

(H/T: Gizmodo)