1. All Sharks Are Large
Sharks have a reputation for being large, fast and fierce. But this doesn’t describe all sharks. There are several hundred species of sharks, like the spiny pygmy shark shown below, are smaller than a foot when they are fully grown.
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Sharks aren’t always active predators, either. Some sharks lie on the ocean bottom, simply waiting for their prey to pass by. An example is the family called the wobbegong sharks. These fascinating sharks spend most of their time resting their flat bodies on the ocean bottom, waiting for prey to swim by so they can ambush them.
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2. To Stay Alive, Sharks Must Swim All the Time
While it is true that sharks need to keep water moving over their gills all the time, but not all sharks need to swim all the time to do that. Some sharks live quite happily and motionlessly on the bottom.
These sharks have openings near their eyes called spiracles, which bring in water from above and to the shark’s gills, allowing them to get the fresh oxygen they need.
This knowledge debunks the myth that sharks need to swim all the time, and that sharks never sleep. Even the sharks that don’t rest on the ocean bottom seem to go through a resting phase, when their brain is less active.
3. Sharks Like to Eat People
Think about a shark’s normal prey – a nice, fatty fish or blubbery seal or sea lion. Humans don’t really pack in the fats that sharks need to eat to get enough energy. As gross as it sounds, to survive on a diet of humans would mean that a shark would need to eat a lot of people. Thankfully, we are just too bony for sharks for them to bother with us much.
Also, when sharks do bite humans, they don’t usually consume them (unless the human is already dead), which lends further evidence to the idea that they don’t like to eat us.
4. When Sharks Bite People, It’s Because They Mistake Them For Prey
There’s been a reigning theory that when sharks bite people, they are mistaking them for prey. That has been a subject of debate for years. Scientists at Taronga Zoo in Australia have recently been testing that theory in an aquarium where they are filming seals and humans in the water, and using computer software to determine how a shark would view them.
There are many theories as to why sharks bite people.
- Sharks may bite people because they are curious, and want to check us out. We often check things out by feeling them. A shark doesn’t have hands, so its way of feeling something may be through using its mouth.
- It also may be a warning, or an indication of territoriality. When a shark bites or bumps a person, it may be trying to communicate that the person is invading its personal space or territory.
5. Sharks Do Not Have Predators
Some sharks, like the great white shark, are apex predators in most situations – they are at the top of the food chain and nothing preys upon them. However, there are some cases where orcas or killer sharks will prey on great white sharks. Seals and seal lions may also eat small sharks And, not all sharks are large – there are small sharks eaten by other fish, even other sharks.
Sharks, in general have much more to fear from us than we do of them. For many years, sharks have been hunted for their skin, fins, meat, cartilage and oil, to such an extent that many shark populations are endangered. They are still hunted for sport, for their fins, or out of fear in some places.
From about.com
See Also: Do Sharks Lay Eggs or Give Birth to Their Young Alive?
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