From their bodies, to their senses, to their relationships with humans, join me as I reveal
to you 10 cool facts you didn't know about sharks.
10.
That's A Lot Of Sharks If the animal kingdom has shown us anything
over the years, it's that there's a lot more variety of life than people give credit for,
and that goes for sharks as well.
At present, there are over 500 known species of sharks.
This is impressive for numerous reasons, not the least of which is the fact that the shark
species technically started around 420 million years ago.
Which means that sharks have endured a looong time, during the time of the dinosaurs, as
well as surviving multiple extinction events that the world has been through.
This includes certain events that specifically targeted aquatic life.
Like you would expect from diversity, there are sharks of all kinds in the world, including
ones that are massive, and ones that are incredibly small.
There are bulky sharks like the whale shark, and small and dinky ones like the Dwarf Lanternshark.
So while it's easy to picture a certain kind of shark when you hear the name, do recognize
that there are many sharks in the world that have a claim to that name.
It’s not all great whites!!
9.
Sharks Don't Have Bones When you think of animals, you think of certain
basic things that most creatures have, which includes a skeletal structure in the case
of most sentient life.
But for sharks, this isn't the case.
Which is surely a surprise because given the lengths that they can grow to at times, you'd
think that they would have plenty of bones, but in fact, they do not.
Rather, sharks belong to a special class of animals known as elasmobranch.
This translates to "cartilaginous tissues."
Which we are familiar with, as it's the things that your ears and the tip of your nose is
made up of.
As for how Sharks (and other sea creatures like rays, sawfish and skates) survive without
bones, it's because the rest of their bodies compensate for it.
The tissues do form a skeletal structure of sorts that helps shape the body, and their
livers help keep them buoyant in the water.
An interesting fact though is that creatures without a skeletal structure don’t usually
fossilize, but because of how sharks strengthen their inner tissues via calcium deposits,
it doubles as a way to fossilize them.
Which is why many bones of sharks have been found over the years.
Including ones of prehistoric sharks, thus allowing us to see how far back they went.
8.
The Largest Fish People sometimes forget that sharks are fish,
and due to the lengths that they can reach, they're actually very large fish.
But the largest of sharks is known as the Whale Shark, and this particular species happens
to be the largest fish in the world today.
Most Whale Sharks grow to be an average of about 40 feet.
However, the longest confirmed measurement of a Whale Shark is 62 feet.
They're also known for having incredibly long lives, scientists state that based on certain
findings, Whale Sharks can live between 70-130 years.
Though given the difficulty of seeing this through, it's only a rough estimate.
Yet what might surprise you is that the Whale Shark is one of three non-meat eating sharks
in the world today.
Their appearance hides the fact that they are filter feeders.
Meaning they'll open their mouths to catch food and let the body do the work without
actually eating them.
This isn't something you would expect from a shark this size.
Whale Sharks are also known for preferring tropical waters, and they won't go into waters
with a temperature below 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
7.
Some Sharks Glow In the oceans, especially in areas where the
sunlight doesn't reach, certain fish and other aquatic creatures can use bioluminescence
to light up the areas around them.
Sometimes as a defense mechanism, sometimes as a way of seeing the world, etc.
Sharks aren't known to have this ability, but for the Swell Shark, it's an exception
to the rule.
Now to be clear, the Swell Shark uses a process called Biofluorescence to glow.
The difference is that instead of emitting light from within (meaning it's a natural
function to glow), the Swell Shark absorbs light and radiation and then emits their glow.
This fact about the shark wasn't learned about until 2014.
At present, the explanation for this ability is believed to be for camouflage or even communication
with other members of its species.
It also should be noted that this isn't the only unique feature of the Swell Shark, if
they feel threatened, they'll swallow a bunch of water to double the size of their bodies.
Two other species of shark that glow via true bioluminescence are the kitefin shark and
the lantern shark.
6.
Female Sharks Are Tougher Than Male Sharks For both humanity and the animal kingdom,
the question of which gender is tougher comes up more than you think.
The roles of each gender change depending on the species itself, and for sharks, you'd
likely be surprised at the similar and different roles that they take at times.
But, one thing that is incontrovertible though is that the female sharks are tougher than
the male ones.
This is not a question of strength or personality per se, but rather, one of skin.
It's been documented that the skin of female sharks are tougher than that of the male sharks.
But why is that a thing?
The answer is really simple, in mating, the male sharks tend to bite the female sharks.
And since an open wound can lead to death instead of reproduction, the female sharks
evolved to have tougher skin so that the males bites wouldn't hurt them long term.
Given the strength that certain sharks have, that shows how tough the female skin of a
shark is.
5.
Sharks Can Sense The Electricity Of Other Animals
There's a lot of myths and misconceptions about what sharks can and cannot do with their
senses.
Such as the classic "sharks can smell your blood in the water".
They can't.
However, they can use their Electroreception abilities to sense where you are via the electricity
in your body.
How does that work?
Around the mouth of the shark are tiny electroreceptors, and sharks have at times hundreds of thousands
of them.
When combined, they can detect electricity within your body (via your brain or muscle
movements) and thus have a picture of where you or their prey are.
Sharks use this incredible ability to hunt food.
Even finding prey in areas that they are hiding in and out of sight, thus adding to the lethal
nature of the sharks hunting abilities.
As a whole, sharks have the greatest electrical sensitivity of any animal on the planet.
4.
Certain Sharks Live In the Deepest Parts Of The Ocean
Sharks are a very diverse species, and they can live in all sorts of waters and at all
depths.
But some sharks outclass others by being able to live in the Mariana Trench, which is one
of the deepest known parts of the ocean today.
For a visual example, you could take all of Mount Everest, turn it upside down, put it
into the ocean, and it wouldn't touch the Mariana Trench.
In terms of sharks, species like the Goblin Shark live down there without an issue.
Why is that impressive?
The deeper you go into the oceans depths, the more pressure that the waters of the world
exert.
So for a creature like the Goblin Shark to live 36,000 feet below sea level proves that
it can take the pressure, and then some.
In context, if a human diver tried to go that deep, they would be crushed long before reaching
it.
What's more, the Goblin Shark is said to be one of the oldest living shark species still
in the world today.
As their species is said to go back about 125 million years.
3.
Hammerhead Sharks Can See In 360 Degrees The Hammerhead Shark is by and large one of
the most recognizable sharks in the world, not the least of which is because of various
animal documentaries and a movie called Flipper.
It's viewed as one of the more predatory and aggressive sharks in the world, and people
would be right for the most part.
But, Hammerhead Sharks rarely attack humans, they prefer smaller sea creatures, and one
of the reasons they're so lethal to that kind of prey is because of their very special eyes.
On the head of a Hammerhead Shark, you'll notice that the eyes aren't together, rather,
they're on the ends of the elongated head.
This is not a weakness, it is a strength, as this positioning allows the Hammerhead
Shark to see in complete 360 degree awareness.
This is a boon for a hunter like the Hammerhead, as that means that their prey truly can't
escape their sight, and when added to their electric sensitivity, it means that they can
track prey in all sorts of terrain without losing them.
Thus why the Hammerhead Shark is feared in the waters.
2.
You Can Put A Shark In A Trance You would think that certain animals wouldn't
be susceptible to certain things that can happen to a human, like hypnotism, but in
fact, sharks have a "state" that they can go into rather easily that puts them into
a trace.
All you have to do is get a shark out of water and flip them upside down.
This is called "Tonic Immobility", and it's why many scientists are able to get up close
and personal with certain smaller sharks and tag them for scientific purposes.
To be clear, the sharks are fine, and once they get flipped back over, they can go and
be themselves again.
Also, it doesn't work in the water because sharks have the ability to maneuver themselves
around in the water.
It can only happen on land.
1.
Tiger Sharks Eat Garbage There are several shark species in the world
today that are known as being "people hunters".
And the Tiger Shark is one such species, mainly because there are documented cases of Tiger
Sharks biting humans every year in Hawaii.
What's more, because of the number of attacks, Tiger Sharks are ranked as No.2 on the list
of sharks who have attacked humans.
But to be honest, Tiger Sharks often don't mean to attack humans, they prefer other things...like
garbage for example.
No truly, scientists have noted over the years that Tiger Sharks for whatever reason will
go and eat just about anything that they find in terms of inanimate objects.
This has given them the nickname of "Garbage Eater".
It's not known why Tiger Sharks eat the objects, it's clear that they don't digest them as
bodies of tiger sharks have been found with tires, license plates and more still inside
of them.
Regardless of the reason, it's something that definitely helps them stick out amongst the
other shark species.
Thanks for watching!
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What else would you like to share about sharks??
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