A new study has found that sharks enjoy jazz music.

Sharks enjoy jazz music

Sharks enjoy jazz music

Scientists at Australia's Macquarie University Fish Lab discovered that the sharks react better to the genre - made famous in New Orleans - music typically using horns, piano, keyboards, bass, drums and guitar- than classical, and are intelligent enough to register that sounds can equate food in some cases.

However, the study is still in its early stages and associate professor Calum Brown says the sharks need more observing to draw further conclusion.

But he hopes the study will help ''shift opinions'' of the misunderstood creatures.

He said: ''It was obvious that the sharks knew that they had to do something when the classical music was played, but they couldn't figure out that they had to go to a different location.

''The task is harder than it sounds, because the sharks had to learn that different locations were associated with a particular genre of music, which was then paired with a food reward.

''Gaining a better understanding of this will help grow positive public opinion of sharks and may shift public and political will towards their conservation.''