Did you know sharks are an interesting type of sea creature that you should read about? All we know about sharks is that they are dangerous. This article will talk more about the interesting facts about sharks that you may not have heard about. Are sharks dangerous? Not all of them.
Let’s take a look at some of the facts that are common to all sharks, which you may not know about.
Did you know that sharks have no bones?
They are a special kind of fish made of cartilaginous tissue instead of bones. although they have no bones. But they still fossilize because sharks deposit calcium salts to strengthen them in their skeletal cartilage as they age. When the jaws of a shark dry, it resembles bone in appearance and texture. These same minerals allow the majority of shark skeletons to fossilize pretty well. Having enamel, the teeth also appear in the fossil record.
They have good eyes.
The eyes of sharks are incredibly intense. In reality, sharks have excellent night vision, can differentiate between different colors, and see extremely well in low-lit environments. When you are in the water, you should try to avoid wearing bright colors like orange and yellow, because sharks can see these colors.
Their scales have a rough texture, much like sandpaper.
Placoid scales, often referred to as dermal denticles, are small teeth-like features that give shark skin its distinctive sandpapery texture. These scales are angled toward the tail and help the shark swim more efficiently.
Different kinds of sharks reproduce differently.
The reproduction methods of sharks are extremely diverse. Some sharks lay eggs and sharks that give birth to young ones. Shark eggs hatch outside the mother’s body without any care.
You must have seen when scientists work with sharks, they flip them upside down. Do you know why they do this?
When sharks are flipped upside down, it is easier for scientists to work with sharks, because
They go into a state called tonic immobility, which is a trance-like state.
Are sharks dangerous to humans?
Although sharks have a scary look, they are friendly creatures. They don’t attack humans unless provoked. You must have also seen scuba divers touching and hugging them in pictures. However, some dangerous shark species attack swimmers even when unprovoked.
What causes sharks to attack?
A considerable amount of research has been done on why sharks attack humans. The results are not conclusive but have advanced to a certain extent. Sharks are highly sensitive to sound, color, and blood.
Rather than sight or smell, it appears that sound is the primary cue for a shark to enter an area. Some types of sounds that they hear regularly, such as a swimmer who is distressed or a fish that is injured, appear to attract the attention of sharks from great distances.
Experiments show that sharks can identify light and dark colors, and they may be capable of distinguishing among them. It seems that yellow, white, and silver colors catch the attention of sharks. Many divers believe that tanks, clothing, and fins should be painted in dull colors.
to avoid shark attacks.
Sharks may not be drawn to blood on their own, but when combined with other unusual elements, they become excited and more likely to attack.
The types of sharks that attack
⦁ Tiger shark
⦁ Blue shark
⦁ fantastic white shark
⦁ Lemon shark
⦁ Bull shark
⦁ The gray nurse shark
Let’s take a look at the “Big Three” shark species that are the most aggressive.
The great white shark is one of the largest predatory fish known to science. Despite possessing 300 teeth, it doesn’t chew food. It shreds its prey into bite-sized pieces that are ingested whole. It cruises efficiently for extended periods, and then switches to high-speed bursts abruptly, looking for prey and leaping out of the water occasionally. Its prey ranges from a wide range of species, including dolphins, large seals, and small fish such as halibut. This is the only shark that is known to kill more people. According to the International Shark Attack File, between 1580 and 2015, white sharks were responsible for 314 unprovoked attacks, and among these, eighty were fatal.
The tiger shark is also known as the man-eater shark, as it attacks divers and swimmers when they are not provoked. They are one of the most aggressive among the shark species that are the most dangerous. Tiger sharks are more likely to be encountered because they stay in areas where people swim. They are huge and powerful, and they could easily overcome a swimmer and cause devastating damage because of their teeth. Tiger sharks are the second most likely to attack after great whites. The International Shark Attack File says that 111 unprovoked attacks by tiger sharks killed 31 people.
Bull sharks are the least dangerous shark species out of the three. But they prefer being in the coastal areas, which makes them a threat to humans. Bull sharks may approach humans, but statistics indicate that swimmers, surfers, and divers have little to fear from these predators. Bull sharks tangle with prey that is even bigger than they are. Most of the time, sharks attack prey that is smaller than they are. This is an endangered species of shark. According to the International Shark Attack File, bull sharks have the third-highest rate of unprovoked attacks. There were 100 unprovoked bull shark attacks between 1580 and 2010, among which 27 were fatal.
Final thoughts
Although shark attacks are spoken about more often, the cases reported are not many, according to statistics. According to the ISAF (International Shark Attack File), the worldwide total of unprovoked shark attack cases was extremely lower than average. The global total of 73 confirmed unprovoked cases in 2021 was comparable to the average number of incidents per year that occurred over the most recent five-year period (2016–2020), which was 72. Most attacks were on surfers and board sports participants. These people spend a lot of time in surf zones where sharks also inhabit and may attract sharks while they are splashing, paddling, and wiping out.
