THE SHARK, THE BOSS
The Most Fearsome Predator (Ruler of the Ocean)
The Creature Most People Fear
Credit: Facts.net
Should we protect them? Are they Killing machines?
Summer, the time of year when once again, sharks hit the
headlines - the subject of intense media focus and not without a great deal of
controversy. Is it worthwhile giving sharks a second thought and gain a better
understanding of their reason for ‘being’?
Misconceptions– How much do we know about sharks?
PRESENTING SOME IMPRESSIVE FACTS
Older than dinosaurs - Shark fossils date back to over 300 million years. Today there is a shark 120 million years old (the Goblin shark)
Species - There are over 500 Species of shark – 143 of these are under threat (from vulnerable to critically endangered)
Credit: Sharksworld.com
Boneless - Sharks have no real bones – so when they die, the saltwater dissolves every part of them except their teeth
Invincible teeth - Sharks never run out of teeth. Most sharks have five rows of teeth and can have as many as 3000 teeth at once! Essential as Sharks lose up to 100 per day. Shark teeth fix themselves. The tooth is the only part of the human body that can't repair itself. They can grow up to 50,000 teeth in a lifetime
Longest and Largest - The longest fish in the world title is held by the Whale shark, reaching up to 40 feet long and the Great White is the largest predatory fish in the world
Reproduction - Sharks mate at their birthplace. The Female shark dwarfs the male shark; litters are enormous (up to as many as 135 pups in a single litter and she can reproduce without a male (presumed- conceived via asexual reproduction or storing sperm to fertilize eggs) as well as give birth to fully grown offspring
Credit: World Animal News
Habitat - Not all sharks live in the ocean. For example, Bull sharks are found in tropical rivers and have evolved to swim between salt and fresh water
The Senses - Sharks not only have an incredible acute ability to smell but also hear. They can hear their prey as far as 3,000 feet away (hearing low-frequency sounds, like that made by a struggling fish's contracting muscle tissue). Sharks can also heat their eyes. Belonging to the Laminid group (including great whites, mako, and porbeagle sharks), they have a superior retina that warms their eyes and brains, helping them better detect movement and improve resolution images that they see. Further, Sharks have a ‘sixth sense’ – the ‘amupllae of Lorenzini’ are found on shark’s snouts - electrical sensors that track down food which can sense the electric fields emitted by animals in the water. A Great White Shark can also detect a drop of blood in 25 gallons of water
Travel - Unimaginable distances without rest. They can travel nonstop for days, and the ‘Great White’ is known to go 2,500 miles or more without pausing for rest and or to eat
Physical Expression - Sharks are silent because they do not have vocal cords and do not use audible sounds to communicate anger or emotions – they express themselves physically
Greatest Enemy - The sharks biggest threat is humans – they have far more reasons to fears us than we to fear them
Credit: BBC.com
They are not what we may think!
In my opinion, it is apparent they are misunderstood more than any other creatures.
Given the facts, I think it’s pretty fair to say, “There is pretty much no other animal in the ocean that demands so much respect from us. From what I understand, all they want is just to be left alone in their domain.”
Considering they sit at the top of the food chain, are essential to our oceans' health, and the decimation of shark populations is causing various ecosystems to collapse, perhaps it’s time to re-think how to proceed forward in living side by side with these majestic and noble animals.
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