Sharks: 10 Interesting Shark Facts

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Sharks have always fascinated people whether from fright, interest or curiosity. Here are 10 fun and weird facts, in no particular order, about sharks.

1. The shark, in one form or another, has been around for around 400 million years. Sharks, which belong to the class Chondrichthyes, roamed the earth before the dinosaurs did and have not evolved for the past 150 million years. The smallest shark, the dwarf lanternshark, is only 6.7 inches long and eats shrimp and small fish. The largest shark, the whale shark, is 65 feet long and weighs around 75,000 pounds and eats plankton.

2. Sharks do not have a single bone in their bodies. Their skeleton is made of cartilage, like a human ear, and connective tissue. Cartilage, which is flexible, has half the density of bone which saves energy and weighs a fraction of what it would if it were bone. Because sharks do not have a rib cage, a shark on land would be crushed under its own weight. The head of a hammerhead shark is soft at birth so that it does not get stuck in the birth canal.

3. Wasps and bees kill more people than sharks do. Around 100 people die from the stings of wasps or bees every year while only 6 people are killed by sharks every year. There are only around 25 sharks (out of 400 species) that are known to attack people. People, on the other hand, kill thousands of sharks every year for food, skins, oil and sport. Shark skins are used to make products such as boots, belts and purses. Shark steaks are eaten in many countries, including America where the Mako shark is the preferred choice. The very first account of an attack by a shark was found in Herodotus around the year 450 BC. Interestingly, up to 90% of shark attacks involved men.

4. Sharks shed teeth. Sharks have around 45 teeth with 7 rows of teeth, for replacement, behind them. When a shark loses or breaks a tooth it only takes a day for a replacement tooth to takes its place. Sharks go through over 30,000 teeth in their lifetime with each new tooth coming in larger (this is why the older a shark is, the scarier it looks). Sharks have extremely powerful jaws, (in fact, they have the most powerful jaws on earth). Carnivores bite first with their lower jaw and then their upper jaw. To tear meat, sharks toss their heads back and forth and then swallow the meat whole.

5. Three of the largest sharks are the gentlest. The whale shark, the basking shark and the megamouth shark life off plankton. These sharks swim holding their mouths open straining the tiny plankton with gill rakers located at the back of their throats.

6. Vitamin A used to come from shark liver oil. A basking shark can have a liver that weighs more than 1,800 pounds and can hold around 600 gallons of liver oil. The liver is the shark’s largest organ; it can be up to 25% of the shark’s total weight. A shark’s liver helps keep them afloat.

7. The megamouth shark has a mouth that can reach 3 feet across. These sharks, which were only recently discovered in 1976, are about 16 feet long. Only 50 megamouths have been seen and they are considered a rare species. Because it is so rare it has its own classification; Megachasmidae. The megamouth is ovoviviparous; this means that the baby sharks develop in eggs.

8. New Zealand’s swell shark barks like a dog. The swell shark pumps water into its stomach causing it to swell. This makes it hard to pull the swell shark out from between rocks. It also makes it hard for bigger fish to eat it. The egg case of the swell shark resembles a drawstring purse and is called a mermaid’s purse.

9. Odd things have been found inside sharks. Some of the things that have been found inside the stomach of a shark include a bottle of wine, a suit of armor, a torpedo, chairs and half of a horse. Most sharks swallow their food whole. Although some sharks will eat just about anything, most sharks rarely stray from their prey items. The cookiecutter shark slices out the flesh from larger prey. They are thought to attach themselves to their prey, make a tight seal with their lips and twist their bodies quickly to tear off the flesh. Whitetip reef shark hunt and eat in packs. Many sharks are able to reverse their stomachs (turn them inside out) to dispose of undesired content.

10. The Great White is the largest fish caught on a rod and reel. The Great White was 17 feet long and weighed 2,664 pounds. The largest Great White ever caught (off the coast of Prince Edward Island, was over 20 feet long. The Great White is the seas largest predatory fish and lives along the coasts of every continent except for Antarctica. The Great White, which is not actually all white and may have dark blue, brown, gray or black on its back, can live for around 25 years. Their usual prey is seals and when they attack a person, which is rare, it is because they thought the person was a seal. More than 70% of the victims of Great White attacks survive because the shark realizes that it has caught a human and does not finish the meal.

Resources about Sharks

Images of sharks and their bites (graphic).
Internation shark attack file Stats, Trends, Analysis and attacks.
The Relative Risk of Shark Attacks to Humans Compared to Other Risks
The BBFS Sharklab is a world famous facility owned and operated by shark biologist Dr. Samuel H. Gruber. The Sharklab offers marine biology internships to people interested in shark research and the conservation of the ocean’s ecosystems.
Pictures of a Bull Shark.

Resource by T.Price

I am a mom of 2 boys who loves to spend time with them doing fun things outdoors. In my spare time I have my own things I enjoy doing such as gardening, reading old books, and being a closet history buff.

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