Cue the Jaws music and get out of the water as fast as you can. Shark Week 2018 is here.
Since 1988, Shark Week has been a much anticipated, week-long event, getting people fascinated
by those ferocious sharp-toothed creatures of the deep. These kings of the ocean may
have a hard time distinguishing between friends and food, but they're still a prime favorite
among people all over the world. I'm Mike with List25 and in honor of Shark Week 2018,
here are 25 Crazy Shark Facts You Can Sink Your Teeth Into.
25.
The average shark has 40-45 teeth and can
have up to seven rows of replacement teeth. Because sharks lose a lot of teeth and grow
them back quickly, they often go through more than 30,000 teeth in a lifetime.
24. Sharks today don't have bones. Their skeletons
are made of cartilage. Subsequently, this makes it harder to study their fossils, but
paleontologists believe they found an earlier ancestor to sharks that actually did have
bones once.
23. Hammerhead sharks are born with soft heads
so they wonâ€™t jam their mothersâ€™ birth canals.
22. The Cookiecutter sharkâ€™s name stemmed
from its unusual feeding method. The sharks attach its mouth onto its victim and carve
out a hunk of flesh, leaving a circular wound in its prey that resembles the hole a pastry
cutter forms in dough.
21. The first tiger shark pup to hatch inside
its motherâ€™s womb devours its unborn siblings until only two pups remain, one on
each side of the womb.
20. Sharks inhabited the earth 200 million years
before the dinosaurs appeared and have changed only minimally during that time.
19. Despite an equal amount of men and women swimming
in the ocean, men account for nearly 90 percent of shark attack victims.
18. Shoes, chairs, boxes of nails, drums, entire
bottles of wine, and the rear half of a horse are just some of the many bizarre objects
that have been found in sharksâ€™ stomachs over the years.
17. If you have a fear of sharks, then this isn't
going to help you. About two-thirds of shark attacks on humans have occurred in less than
six feet of water.
16. However, shark attacks and deaths resulting
from them are very rare. About 10 people died during shark attacks in 2013. You have a 1
in 3.7 million chance of being killed by a shark, which means you have a greater chance
of being killed by bee stings or struck dead by lightning.
15. In contrast, humans are much more dangerous
predators of sharks. For every human killed by a shark, 100 million sharks are killed
by humans per year. That might even be a conservative estimate. Some believe it could be as high
as 273 million.
14. Scientists study shark cartilage to research
possible cures for cancer because sharks have shown incredible longevity and rarely ever
develop cancer.
13. While data needs to be confirmed, it's quite
possible a Great White Shark near Phillip's Island, weighing 5,085 lbs and measuring almost
21 feet long, was the largest shark ever caught.
12. Unlike most sharks that only can survive in
salt water, Bull Sharks can live in both salt and fresh water with kidneys that can gradually
adjust to suit the type of water they're in.
11. Most sharks must swim constantly to force
water through their mouths and over their gills because they lack the ability to pump
water over their gills like the majority of fish.
10. Measuring only seven inches long, the Dwarf
Lantern Shark is the smallest shark in existence. On the other hand, the Whale Shark is the
worldâ€™s largest shark. It can grow to be 50 feet long and weigh more than 40,000
pounds.
9. The Moses sole is a rare fish sharks cannot
eat. When a shark bites into one, the fish releases a chemical that causes the shark
to release it. Scientists are currently attempting to recreate this chemical so they can use
it to repel sharks from humans.
8. Native Americans on the east coast, including
Florida, used the teeth of Great White sharks as arrowheads. Shark teeth were found with
Native American graves and they may have also used them for tools and necklaces.
7. A little-known fact about sharks is that they
have an acute sense of hearing. Some sharks can hear prey, like a struggling fish, up
to a kilometer away.
6. Sharksâ€™ ears are located inside their
heads. They have two holes called endolymphatic pores that lead to ducts filled with fluid
that carry sound waves. Hearing is their strongest sense.
5. An ancient shark called Carcharodon Megalodon
(â€œrough tooth, big toothâ€ ) had teeth measuring more than six inches long
(the largest shark teeth ever found), jaws big enough to swallow an entire car, and a
body the same length as Tyrannosaurus Rex. Some believe this shark may still exist in
deep water.
4. The Tiger Shark is the second-most dangerous
shark in the world. It's sometimes referred to as the â€œgarbage can of the seaâ€
because it will eat anything. Remnants of a chicken coop filled with bones and feathers
were once discovered in the stomach of a dead tiger shark.
3. Whale sharks lay the largest eggs of any animal
on land or in the sea. The largest whale shark egg on record measured 14 inches in diameter.
2. Some South Pacific islanders considered sharks
to be gods and offered human sacrifices to them until as recently as the nineteenth century.
1. Shark skin is very tough, thick, and unique,
providing very good armor and protection. Whale sharks even have skin up to 4 inches
thick!
So, what's your favorite shark and why? Let us know in the comments below, or tweet your
answer to us @List25.
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