Shark Facts

What do you think of sharks?

Are you scared of them, or do you think that they are a specia

   l creature?

Loads of people have built up a fear of sharks because of movies like Jaws and what the news tells us.

But actually, sharks really like us humans.

They only attack if they get scared, and when we’re flapping and jumping around in the water, they sometimes think we’re a **seal!**

Sharks are actually awesome creatures and here we’ve got some of the most awesome facts about them in this article.

Enjoy!

### **Fun Facts About Sharks:**

Sharks have evolved in the past 470 million years and unbelievably there are about 440 different species!

They can be really small or really large.

The Dwarf Lantern Shark is a baby at 6.7 inches (*17 centimeters)* long.

How cute is that.

Did you know that not all sharks live in the sea?

Well some of them live in rivers, like the Bull Shark, the Spear Tooth Shark and the River Shark.

Amazingly they can survive in river and sea water.

The Bull Shark actually changes things in its blood to survive in both.

That’s amazing, wonder how he does that!

Now apparently shark skin can be used as sandpaper.

**MythBusters**tested it and apparently it works really well.

It is soaked in wee overnight; now that’s really gross!

Then they dry it out before using it!

A shark’s skin is made of tiny scales which point towards the tail.

What this means is that there is no resistance while they’re swimming in the water so it doesn’t slow them down.

But if you rub the skin from tail to head, it feels really rough, just like sandpaper.

Now that’s really weird.

### **Shark Teeth:**

Did you know that a shark never ever runs out of teeth?

They have between 5 to 15 rows of teeth arranged in layers.

Imagine having rows of teeth in your mouth?

It would certainly feel quite strange don’t you think.

One Bull Shark was found with 50 rows of teeth!

He must have one seriously big mouth.

If a tooth breaks off, another one grows in its place within a day.

That is incredible.

They can grow and lose over 20,000 teeth in their lives.

When a shark dies their teeth don’t rot.

They do eventually, but it takes about 10,000 years for this to happen.

Wow!

When a baby shark is born it already has teeth and can swim away and defend itself immediately.

That’s quite amazing in the animal world!

### **Items Found Inside Sharks:**

This will make you laugh!

There have certainly been some weird and wonderful things found inside sharks!

They have found tyres, bike parts, tin cans, a polar bear, a *16th-century* **Portuguese** medallion, license plates, boots, fur coats, and the bones of an adult, a 7 foot (*2 metre*) long **dolphin**, and bottles of wine.

They also found the remains of a knight still wearing his armour.

It was apparently found inside a Great White Shark in the 16th Century, although some people really don’t know if this is true.

They’ve also found a *cannon-ball*, porcupines, cans of paint, livestock and ***crocodile-**heads*, a reindeer with their antlers, *rubber-boots*, *pet-dogs* with their collars, a camera while it was still running, a ***horse-**head*, a bag of money, and *Barbie-dolls!*

Also, crazily enough, another shark had a *chicken-coop* with chickens still inside.

It seems sharks have a taste for almost everything!

### **What should you do if you meet a shark in the water?**

Sharks might look very scary and for centuries people have thought that they are just *man-eaters*, but they are actually gentle and quite like being touched by humans.

In Cape Town, South Africa, the Foster brothers used a film to prove this point.

Damon Foster says surfers should paint a big eye on their board and make sure the board isn’t shiny or glittery.

If a shark comes, the surfer should get off the board into the water, make him or herself as ‘***big***’ as possible and eyeball the shark.

That way the shark knows the surfer isn’t afraid and will back off.

If the surfer tries to high tail it out of there, the shark then thinks that they are prey and will go on the hunt.

Well now you know what to do…get painting that big eye on your surfboard.

Mike Rutzen is South Africa’s ‘**shark whisperer**’!

He cuddles sharks, puts them into a trance by tickling their sensory spots which are usually found under their snout, and takes rides on their backs by holding their dorsal fins.

Who would have thought that they could be so gentle?

How awesome is that?