30 Dec 2004 | Brad Hurley said...

Elephants can hear ultrasound, and they may have detected sounds from the earthquake before the tsunamis hit. And it could be that the elephants' reaction then triggered similar reactions in other species, just like a blue jay's alarm call when it sees a hawk will cause all other small birds in the vicinity to dive for cover.

30 Dec 2004 | Patrick said...

That's really interesting, but I think the concept of a "sixth sense" is slightly absurd.

One of the distinguishing features of humans is that we can (usually) control our environment, whereas all other animals are at the mercy of it. When it comes to evolution (and even conditioning in a single life time), if there is no real (usual) need for an animal to deal with something then there is no reason it will be built to deal with it.

Humans just aren't used to changes in their environment, small or big.

30 Dec 2004 | Brad Hurley said...

I agree that there's probably no such thing as a "sixth sense," I think it's more that the hearing, smell, sight, and tactile senses of some animals are far more sensitive than others. Humans evolved as predominantly visual hunter/gatherers and we stand erect with our heads far from the ground where smells tend to be concentrated, so our noses didn't evolve to be anywhere near as sensitive as those of, say, dogs. I don't think we ever "lost" our sense of smell, it's more likely that we never evolved a powerful sense of smell to begin with; there was no pressure from natural selection to develop it.

Sometimes, though, an animal's ability to sense certain things can simply be an evolutionary byproduct: elephants communicate in part through ultrasound, which may happen to allow them to also hear things like the noises of earthquakes.

30 Dec 2004 | Darrel said...

Maybe it's just because all the humans had populated the coastal areas to the point where the animals had no place left to stay in harms way of a tsunami. ;o)

As for 'sixth sense' I think it's certainly true that animals can have much more acute senses than humans.

30 Dec 2004 | Chris said...

My kids have noticed that the bird feeders in the back yard are significantly busier the day before a front rolls through during the winter. Birds that we normally see once a day will be there 3 or 4 times that day in apparent attempt to get nice and full to ride out the impending bad weather.

I'm guessing the birds can sense the drop in barometric pressure as a storm approaches.

30 Dec 2004 | Jeff Croft said...

It is pretty facinating. I think it just goes to show that evolution works both ways. While wild animals have continued to become more and more "in tune" with their enviroment, humans have mostly created their enviroment, rather than apadting to it. As such, we've basically devolved in this way.

Very interesting.

30 Dec 2004 | eric said...

[SPOILER ALERT]

it turns out the animals were dead all along, and that's why the only person who could see them was the boy.

30 Dec 2004 | Brad Hurley said...

Um, a small correction to my posts above...I was saying ultrasound when I meant the opposite, infrasound

30 Dec 2004 | ed said...

1) When there's 114,000 dead people floating by, you tend not to notice the dead dog.

2) Animal = food.

30 Dec 2004 | Ed Knittel said...

Wow... totally blogged about this on our pet site kennelsource.com about 30 minutes before you Matt. Even used the same Yahoo news article.

Any pet owner will tell you, though, that they know that their dogs, horses, emus - whatever, always always always know when "something" is amiss. I have to agree with everyone else though, it's not a 'sixth sense' as in "I see dead people" but more accutely aware of surroundings.

When you're not at the top of the food chain you have to always be looking over your shoulder. Even gorillas need to watch out for sharks.

30 Dec 2004 | Poop said...

Animals smell bad. Horses especially.

30 Dec 2004 | Don Schenck said...

Anecdotal Story:

My wife was awakened by our pet german shepherd/husky, "Char", a few years back. Middle of the night. Dog was going crazy.

Wife got upset that she had to get up in the middle of the night. So she scolds Char and takes her out ... only to see a glowing sky.

Moments later, the neighbors phone. Tornado warning.

It touched down a few miles north.

Cool. Best damn dog in the history of the world. Your dog? Your dog can fetch Char's slippers. :-)

30 Dec 2004 | El Capitan said...

No they do not have a sixth sense just are attuned to using their senses!

I saw some video from the carnage, you had people near the beach "standing and watching" the coming tide, and only when the waves were within 50 feet did their dumb asses start running. If they only used their fucking eyes or someone smart ordered them to run, more would of survived!

I think so many people just DON'T PAY ATTENTION at an acute level.

30 Dec 2004 | Darrel said...

I think so many people just DON'T PAY ATTENTION at an acute level.

Very true.

31 Dec 2004 | Elaine Nelson said...

I've been reading the (excellent) book Krakatoa, and here's the author's (brief) take:

"It is said that animals are presciently aware of impending seismic doom. Catfish jump out of the water. Bees mysteriously evacuate their hives. [several other odd examples] (A retired [USGS] scientist collected lost-pet advertisements [...] and claimed to find a correlation, such that within two weeks of any rise in the number of missing animals, there was an earthquake nearby.)

There is no firm scientific evidence that there is a connection [...]. Yet not a few geologists do feel it is at least reasonable to suppose that the [movements] that precede massive eruptions or earthquakes can be sensed by animals long before being experienced by man or his machines. But no one has yet measured the link, if indeed there is one."

He goes on to talk about the strange behavior of a circus elephant. OTOH, he also describes the bodies of tigers being seen floating along with those of people.

Just another data point....

31 Dec 2004 | Alisa Aydin said...

(off topic apologies) hi - new fan here (been reading since I heard the Basecamp presentation in Boston - I do webwork at UNICEF - don't know if you had anything to do with it, but it was really great to see the South Asia donate button on the site - if you did, many thanks

31 Dec 2004 | tenanagrymen said...

A more simple answer- animals are skittish and easily frightened. Meaning, they had the good sense to run like Hell the minute something seemed out of the ordinary.

Unlike humans, who, as some of the video footage has shown, at first simply stood and watched what at first was one cooooooool wave- it was only until it was too late that many people apparently realized how much danger they were in.

Yes, animals may have a sixth sense. The more pertinent questuion may be- perhaps humans have that sense also, but the animals are simply more likely to act upon thier instincts/ first sign of danger.

How many people in the WTC on 9/11 ignored the instinct to run like hell, and instead stayed at thier desks on 9/11 waiting for an order to evacuiate/obeying the order to shelter in place?

31 Dec 2004 | Narain said...

I am from chennai, India up close with the Tsunami. Well, from the experience i can tell you few facts.

1. I dont want to get into a debate on the sixth sense. But yes, the dogs barked like a hell over here.

2. The tsunami happened on a sunday, next day to Xmas so most of the people mainly fisherman (from India) were sleeping in their huts. The tsunami completely swallowed them.

3. I agree on the onlookers statement. The rescue operations & relief operations were completely jammed on 26th & 27th purely because of these curious onlookers who stand in between.

Most of the people who hit by the wave were shocked at seeing a giant wave coming towards them. That point of time, their minds struck that they never even tried to run from that place. Btw, it travals at a speed of 800 KMs per hour, which itself is a testimony of how swift it is.

My viewpoint on defining "sixth sense" greatly varies between animals & humans. What we consider as logical evolution may not have happened with animals. But each animal to me has some special sense. The way we interpret "Sixth Sense" greatly varies from where the actual sense is.

31 Dec 2004 | Greg said...

I don't care what you call it, the animals just know.

One of the worst nights of my life was during a series of 6.+ earthquakes. It was during the summer in Alaska when the sun doesn't completely set and so animals are restless and continue to bark and chirp all 'night' long. You get used to it when you've lived there all your life, but on this night, after the first quake I noticed that all of the animals froze moments before the second wave rolled through and half an hour later.

One second birds and dogs are making noise the next it's dead quiet and then the walls start shaking. By the time the third aftershock rolled around — and once again the animals went silent — I had a hard time falling back to sleep.

The animals know man, the animals know.

31 Dec 2004 | Randy said...

I don't get it though. Why would animals be silent before an earthquake? What's the benefit?

31 Dec 2004 | mikolaj said...

why silent?
they'd be getting their arse outta there instead of standing around and mindlessly chirping.

31 Dec 2004 | Kris said...

You may wonder why we can find dead dogs or alike when all other animals are running far.
Remember dogs are so faithful to their "master" (don't know correct word in english) that they prefer to DIE along with him than getting his ass out of there, even if his "master" doesn't know anything about the coming danger while looking at the cooooool wave coming on the beach ...

31 Dec 2004 | Arne Gleason said...

What? Wild animals and even pets are more sensitive to their environment then we? Preposterous! More sensitive than us who do everything within our power to invent barriers and controls for our local environments? Impossible! (Actually, its telling that we should find this mysterious or amazing even for a moment).

01 Jan 2005 | Franklin said...

Possibly relevant: CNN: Sea gypsies' knowledge saves village; Newspaper says Thai fishermen warned of tidal wave.

02 Jan 2005 | Holy Cow said...

Remember kids, Jeebus loves you! Even if he kills 150,000 of you with killer waves.

Wonder what Schenk has to say about this. He'll probably spout something about God testing humans.

03 Jan 2005 | Don Schenck said...

Holy Cow -- It's S-C-H-E-N-C-K. Sheesh.

03 Jan 2005 | Michael Spina said...

Could be humans' strange social behavior as well. I don't know the name of this phenomena, but what I'm thinking of is the tendancy to not want to stand out in a crowd, even if your instincts are screaming otherwise. For example, if you're in trouble you're better off finding someone who's alone than go into a crowded area.

Someone standing on a crowded beach watching a big wave would see everyone else doing the same, and feel safe doing it.

03 Jan 2005 | Don Schenck said...

Being an ocean nut, a surfer, and one who (long before Dec. 26) has educated themselves about Tsunami's and waves in general, I'd like to think that I would have headed for higher ground as soon as the tide started to receed. It's a dead giveaway of a huge wave coming.

But on the other hand, the shock and stunning beauty of a big wave could easily have me mesmerized.

I wouldn't be so quick to condemn or question those who stood and watched the wave roll in. I can't say I wouldn't have done the same. *sigh*

04 Jan 2005 | bala pala said...

Hi Friends,Before Tsunamis hit the shores of Srilanka we got early warning from sea.Blue colored sea snakes Came out of the sea to lagoons in thousands.Silver skin fishes were stying at shore.Plenty people caught fish with buckets without knowing the warning.On the final day crabs came to high ground houses.Finally Water went back for hundreds of meters and start to run side way.people went to explore the new beach were smashed with high and forcefull ways.
Then it went back.so other people ran to help this people not aware of the wave was coming back were struck again.All togather six times the waves stucked the shore. you got any advice please send me. bala

05 Jan 2005 | martin said...

Of course the animals know...

Come on, Sharks can sense the electrical current of muscles in water, many animals navigate using the earths magnetic field, dolphins and bats use sonar (OK, not a new sense, just very posh hearing)... How many senses do you need? Thats at least 7. maybe 8...

Not that I'm saying they also have an 8th (or 9th) special disaster sensing sense. But seriously, after every natural disaster we hear these stories, why is it so hard to believe something we don't quite understand is going on, whether its infrasound, vibrations or something new, just because we haven't discovered a mechanism doesn't mean its not there. We're not really that clever, look around...

05 Jan 2005 | Andrea said...

I believe that the sixth sense of animals do exist. This is not new in the world history. Many different animals are able to respond to natural disaster before the ocurr ( within minutes or seconds before it happends), and some humans have the ability to know about it this things through their dreams and some other premonitions.
I personally give a credit to animals in this kind of situations, is just us , "humans " that are not aware enough of our environment.

05 Jan 2005 | Andrea said...

I believe that the sixth sense of animals do exist. This is not new in the world history. Many different animals are able to respond to natural disaster before the ocurr ( within minutes or seconds before it happends), and some humans have the ability to know about this things through their dreams and some other premonitions.
I personally give a credit to animals in this kind of situations, is just us , "humans " that are not aware enough of our environment.

05 Jan 2005 | Andrea said...

I believe that the sixth sense of animals do exist. This is not new in the world history. Many different animals are able to respond to natural disaster before the ocurr ( within minutes or seconds before it happends), and some humans have the ability to know about this things through their dreams and some other premonitions.
I personally give a credit to animals in this kind of situations, is just us , "humans " that are not aware enough of our environment.

05 Jan 2005 | Carl said...

I find this all sort of humorous since most animals die from being eaten by other animals. That sure seems like a disaster to me.

06 Jan 2005 | IMAN said...

I AM DOING MY SPEECH ON THIS AND I THINK THE ANIMALS DO HAVE A 6TH SENSE
WHY WOULD THEY ACT CRAZY RIGHT BEFORE A TSUNAMI
THINK ABOUT IT

06 Jan 2005 | IMAN said...

I AM DOING MY SPEECH ON THIS AND I THINK THE ANIMALS DO HAVE A 6TH SENSE
WHY WOULD THEY ACT CRAZY RIGHT BEFORE A TSUNAMI
THINK ABOUT IT

07 Jan 2005 | Digga said...

Of course dey have a 6th sense

just cause us humans dont understabd it donr mean its not happening

I mean, look how stupid the race has become! We are devolving in a great speed, grrr people re soooo stupid

07 Jan 2005 | maxim said...

i have heard birds chirping really loud prior to a thunderstorm..once the wind starts blowing the birds are silent...they know,,they communicate,i would expect that the whole animal world may have a language that we just don't understand yet.,or never will....

07 Jan 2005 | Ashley said...

I think animals do have a sixth sense. I think they know more about nature then we do when it comes to earth queakes and weather. They can feel whats comming. They know something is going to happend, that fear or disaster is on the way. As humans i believe we dont have that ability to feel thos things.

07 Jan 2005 | One of several Steves said...

IMO, the notion of some sort of "sixth sense" is absurd. Does a dog have a sixth sense because it can hear a dog whistle and humans can't? No. It simply has a different ear than humans do, that can register different frequencies than the human ear.

And the explanation for animals being able to detect something going on is quite probably chalked up to that. Animals hear at all sorts of different frequencies that are outside the range of human hearing, and almost anything that happens on the earth or in the atmosphere is going to create sound. Some animals are going to be better suited to hear those than others, either due to differences in frequency perception or volume perception. The same differences are there for vibration, etc.

Occam's razor applies. The simplest explanation is usually the correct one. There's no need to bestow animals with mystical powers.

08 Jan 2005 | mitch said...

it's just that those animals are more in tune with nature and they sense things better than us homosapiens. its because we are more in tuned with technology instaed of nature. you know them native who dont have technology, well they are like the animals, they are like a part of nature. they probably could tell when something is going to occur. hey this is something from a kid so there are some errors

10 Jan 2005 | Don Schenck said...

I think animals are all part of an alien civilization that was put here on Earth some 200 years ago.

(I've been watching too much Sci-Fi TV)

11 Jan 2005 | bill said...

this is dumb

11 Jan 2005 | bill said...

my real name is ben

11 Jan 2005 | bill said...

u guys are stupid dumb asses

11 Jan 2005 | bill said...

hi i m going to poop on my self

11 Jan 2005 | bill said...

its me justin ben

17 Jan 2005 | anna said...

I believe that animals do have a sixth sence,if they didnt what else would explain their behaviour.
I also believe that horses especially have a sixth sence they are so smart they can detect danger long before us humans can.
All animals have a sixth sence its just whether you want to believe it or not.

17 Jan 2005 | anna said...

F**k you bill or ben your just to wrapped up in your own modern day world to realy know whats going on,like someone as arrogant as you would be able to properly understand animals behaviour and their actions towards things.

25 Jan 2005 | Tatum said...

My purpose for doing research on this particular topic was to gain more knowledge on the subject of "Animal's sixth sense for a scholarly research paper I'm beginnning in my first year of College at Marshall University." What I've come to find, however, is that not only animals sense disasters. If they allow themselves people can also sense not only natural disasters, but disasters with other people. I have a friend who I didn't talk to on a regular basis for years and I had been going through some rough times in my life that I had been keeping to myself. She called out of the blue the very next day, because she said she "sensed something was wrong." Sometimes she'll even call before something major occurrs. I call her an angel, but do we all have these incredible abilities? If we allowed ourselves to deeply care and be concerned with others would we too find this "sixth sense?" Just a thought!