It's Shark Week!

Albus_Scope

Yes folks it's that time of year once more, the week where people either get very over excited, or run away screaming.
I'm one of the people that gets very excited about Shark Week, they're my favorite animal of all time ever and I think it's sad o many people don't like them.

I fully blame Lucas for his 1970s blockbuster "Jaws" and the sequels. Sharks get a very bad rep still due to the film. So here's some fun facts about sharks and why they're actually fascinating creatures.

-A shark is a fish that shares these characteristics;

A skeleton made entirely of cartilage ( sharks have no bones at all!)
Between five and seven gills.
Rigid fins.
Dermal denticles (or placoid scales), tiny, teeth-like ridges on their outer skin that feels like sandpaper.
Electroreceptors enabling them to sense electric fields in the water.
If that fish doesn't have all of these, that fish is no shark!

-Sharks are split into 8 different orders, spanning a whopping 520 known types, with sizes ranging from a majestic 17 meters to a dinky 23cms.

-Sharks have been on this planet longer than trees!

-There have been a total of 898 recorded shark attacks, of which 124 were fatal. That's roughly 19 attacks a year, with one fatality every two years. That sounds like a lot right? But here's some other things that kill more humans each year than sharks;

Coconuts - 150 deaths per year.
Dogs - 272 deaths in the US between 2008 and 2015.
Deer - 440 deaths per year.
Champagne corks - average of 24 deaths per year.
Cows/horses - an average of 20 deaths per year.
Flipflops - 1 death per year, with over 200,000 injuries each year.

So as you can see, they have a very bad rep for being cold blooded killers. Most of the time, it's a case of mistaken identity. Lacking hands, curious sharks check things out using their faces, which contain millions of very sensitive electroreceptors, so they "touch" objects with their mouths. Which can be bad news for a human swimming around, looking a bit like a seal!

Unfortunately sharks are on the endangered list. For every 10 sharks back in 1970, there's only 3 now, basically the populations are down 70%!
Sharks are in danger, and it's not just because they're the perfect villain in movies. Overfishing is the biggest threat to their survival, with sharks being killed for their fins, meat, and liver oil. Even recreational fishing and industrial trawler nets are taking a toll on their population.

But that's not all, sharks are also facing habitat destruction, marine pollution, climate change, and reef destruction. These factors have made it harder for them to breed, hunt, and protect their young. And to make matters worse, sharks take years to mature and produce relatively few young, making it hard for them to regenerate quickly. So, are sharks endangered? Unfortunately, the answer is a resounding yes.

But I don't want to end this on a down note. The good news is, with waters around the world warming up, there are more frequent shark sightings in UK waters now too. We've always had about 12 species living off our costs, ranging from the speedy mako sharks to the lovable dogfish, but now, there could be more species visiting.

So, over to you, do you like sharks? How did you find the Jaws movies? What's your favorite shark? Let us know in the comments!

vikingqueen

hello my name's Bruce…… It has to be Bruce all the way 😉 (Finding Nemo for those that don't know him)

Strawberry1

I must admit I went through a phase where I would watch Jaws over and over lol 😆 🤣.

Sandy_123

When my daughter was in the Maldives she was in the sea and spotted a baby shark, so decided to swim back to shore with the shark swimming below her. Not every day that happens. I think if baby is there mommy or daddy won't be far away

Strawberry1

Whoa @Sandy_123 . Your daughter was brave. Glad all was ok .

Albus_Scope

It's so great to hear everyone being shark fans haha.

When my mother was pregnant with me, she went swimming daily at the local beach in Kuwait. One day she was halfway out to one of the manmade swimmers islands, when a huge shoal of fish appeared around her, then something like sandpaper bumped into her a few times. Upon reaching the island she could see her friends all waving their arms at her.
On closer inspection, she could see several of streamlined shapes stalking through the water. Yup, she'd been swimming in a shoal of fish that a couple of hammerhead sharks were feeding on! She waited half an hour before swimming back. Mum thinks that's how I got my fascination with sharks from. 😆

Oh wow @Sandy_123 what an amazing experience!

I still love the Jaws movies @Strawberry1 even the animatronics still look pretty great!

Gotta say @Biblioklept, Sharknado was very very silly indeed, I loved it! Though I was put off swimming pools for a while too after watching Jaws, but I was quite young.

And as the saying goes @vikingqueen "fish are friends, not food!" 😁