Shark Trivia

Shark Trivia!

Mothers only get a day but sharks get a whole week!

There are over 370 species of sharks in the world.

Sharks have upper and lower eyelids but do not blink.

Shark Week is one of television’s biggest annual events, on The Discovery Channel each August.

Female sharks can become pregnant without any contact from a male!

Why so many “bites”? – Sharks like to ‘taste’ what they are eating, and aren’t in a rush to eat something they don’t care for. They prefer sea turtles to humans. About 90% of people bitten by sharks aren’t eaten, they actually survive… as long as prompt medical care is given for the bite, most people survive.

Florida averages the greatest number of shark attacks annually.

A shark may grow and use over 20,000 teeth in its lifetime.

Since keeping track, from 1588, there have been about 1000 shark-related incidents in the United States. Australia comes in second place with about 1/2 that number.

Sharks can travel up to 40 miles per hour.

Baby sharks are called pups.

Some sharks swim a figure eight when frightened.

On average, about one person per year is killed by sharks. Over 3,300 Americans die from drowning over that same 365 day period.

Sharks have been around for about 400 million years.

Eating Shark flesh is forbidden in both the Solomon and Fiji Islands.

In 2003 Bethany Hamilton was on her surfboard, with her left hand dangling in the water, when a shark bit her arm, off at her shoulder. The 13-year old recovered and still competes as a pro surfer. Her story was made into a film, Soul Surfer.

Unlike most animals’ jaws, both the sharks’ upper and lower jaws move.

Sharks can have from 1 to 100 babies at a time, depending on the type of shark.

Sharks can detect one part of blood per ten billion parts of water – that means they could detect one drop of blood in an area the size of an Olympic swimming pool!

About 75 shark species are in danger of becoming extinct.

Sharks are covered in sharp, tooth-like scales called denticles.

The dwarf lantern shark (Etmopterus perryi) is the smallest shark and grows to only about 15cm.

The biggest shark is the whale shark (Rhincodon or Rhincodon typus), which can be up to 50 feet (15 m) long.

You are 1,000 times more likely to drown in the sea than you are to be bitten by a shark.

A shark can hear a fish in the water from more than a mile away.

On some islands, villagers believed that sharks were spirits of their ancestors.

Some sharks are scared away by bubbles produced by scuba divers.
Shark oil is used in costly skin creams that are meant to prevent wrinkles and signs of aging.

Sharks kept in captivity have been known to grow 10 times their usual rate in the wild.

Apart from people, a shark’s greatest enemy is another shark. Most sharks will happily eat any of their relatives, including members of their own species.

Nurse sharks in captivity have been trained to push buttons with their snouts.

Up to 100 million sharks are killed by people every year.

In 17th century France, the shark brain was eaten to ease the pain of childbirth. Today, the capacity of the dried shark brain to relieve pain is widely recognized.

A shark’s skeleton is made of rubbery cartilage, like the tip of our noses.

Sharks do not chew their food, they swallow it whole. If it’s too big, they tear it into chunks.

Baby sharks are born with sharp teeth and the ability to hunt right from the start.

Sharks can see almost as well behind them as they can in front.

No one has ever seen a Great White Shark give birth in the wild.

Unlike many other creatures, a shark does not have a layer of fat below its skin.

Shark mothers do not feed their babies. They must survive on their own.

Most other fish have flaps over their gills. Sharks do not.

Most other fish have just one-gill slit- an organ for breathing-on each side of the body. A shark has five, six, or even seven-gill slits on each side.

Most other fish have skeletons made of bone. A shark’s skeleton is made of cartilage, a type of strong but flexible tissue.

Sharks do not sleep the same way as humans do. They might seem as if they are sleeping but they are really just resting.

Sharks have the most powerful jaws on the planet. Unlike most animals’ jaws, both the sharks’ upper and lower jaws move.

Each type of shark has a different shaped tooth depending on their diet.

The ChumBuddy is a sleeping bag and stuff shark toy made to teach people about sharks. It is 7 feet tall and contains about 30 lbs of poly-fill.