Jaws has a lot to answer for … Sharks ahoy!

Now … I don’t know about you but Jaws had a lasting effect on me and left me feeling uneasy about the apex predators in the water.  The music still has the power to make me jump!  That doesn’t stop me being in awe of sharks and how they have adapted to be the key predators in the water.

The shark is the largest fish in the sea.  They have been around for more than 300 million years … a sign of their ability to adapt to their conditions.  It’s thought that there are around 350 different types of sharks but given the size and depth of our oceans there may well be other shark species that are yet to be discovered.

Here are some interesting shark facts:

• The shark doesn’t have any bones. Instead its skeleton is made up of cartilage.
• Depending on the species the shark can swim up to 40 miles an hour but the Mayo shark is an exception to that as it is said to be able to swim at more than 60 miles an hour.
• Sharks don’t sleep in the same way other animals do. Given that its body is heavier than the sea if it stops moving it will sink.  So, even if it appears they are sleeping they are just resting.
• Unfortunately for our Jaws inspired nightmares a shark’s teeth are usually replaced every eight days which means that some species of shark can shed 30,000 teeth in their lifetime!! And, even worse than that, a whale shark has more than 4,000 teeth … but the reassuring part of that is that each one is tiny.
• Sharks have incredible senses. They can hear sounds from thousands of feet away, it can feel vibrations made in the water hundreds of feet away.  And it has an amazing sense of smell!
• The Whale shark is the largest shark species and it can reach 90,000 pounds in weight.
• Sharks can range in length, depending on the species, from 11 inches to 40 feet in length.

Whilst Jaws has caused many people to be frightened of shark attacks there is one key fact to bear in mind … more people are killed by bee stings than by shark attacks! And humans are far more dangerous to sharks!

Why not have a look at our collection of water based creatures … including our shark watch?  Click here to see them.