Sharks are one of the oldest living species on planet Earth. They've survived the most severe mass extinction events, and they rule 70 percent of the world.

Jason Momoa, a Hawaiian actor famous for playing Arthur Curry in Aquaman and Khal Drogo in Game of Thrones, has a shark tattoo on his left forearm dedicated to his family god or aumakua. It’s quality over quantity for sharks. Unlike bony fish, sharks give birth to only a few offspring per cycle. Fertilized eggs typically hatch inside the mother’s body and come out as live pups. A few species lay eggs in the water and protect these with a leather-like case — often called a “mermaid’s purse”. Humans kill 100 million sharks a year. That means for every single person killed by a shark, humans kill 25 million sharks Whale sharks give birth to the greatest number of pups. They can produce several hundred in a litter. [9] Although there are about 400 different types of sharks, fewer than 20% of them are larger than adult humans. [9]On the list of amazing shark facts, this fact will enthral you. Just as humans can sleep walk, sharks can sleep swim. It’s a necessity for breathing. Continuous forward motion ensures that water flows to their gills. With the brain effectively turned off, the spinal cord takes over to control their movement. Students will be enthralled by the diverse range of differences that each of these animals show, and using an apex predator like a shark to show how animals evolve different living strategies is amazing. While scientists still have much to learn about shark migration, researchers do know that some species get around. Blue sharks (Prionace glauca), for example, roam the North Atlantic on journeys of 1,200 to 1,700 nautical miles (2,220 to 3,145 kilometers). After one record-breaking blue was tagged off New York, it swam 3,740 nautical miles (6,919 kilometers) to Brazil.

Sharks are known as eating machines. But because many species are cold-blooded, some sharks eat only about 2 percent of their body weight each day. That's a bit less than humans typically eat. Some sharks must swim constantly to "breathe" oxygen from water passing through their gills. Other species can achieve this while stationary. The 1975 movie Jaws fueled widespread fear and hatred of sharks, and the shark has been intensely hunted since. It is so endangered that many countries have taken steps to protect it. Ironically, the late Peter Benchley, the author of the book, supported shark conservation. [11] Blue Sharks are the most endangered species on the planet. Blue Sharks are highly coveted for their fins used in shark fin soup.

Whale Shark

Josh Davis, Megalodon: The truth about the largest shark that ever lived, Natural History Museum, 6 August 2018. Shark” came from the Dutch “schurk”, a word that describes a villain, a scoundrel, and a predator – quite fitting for this frightening fish, as well as human equivalents like loan sharks. Most sharks never sleep because they have to constantly pump water through their mouth over their gills to breath or they will die.

Angel sharks were once called monkfish or bishop fish because their fins look like flowing robes. [6] Unlike fish, sharks do not have a swim bladder to keep them afloat—for this, sharks instead have a large oil-filled liver. Sharks that spend a lot of time on the surface, such as whale and basking sharks, have a massive liver. [10]

6. Most sharks are cold-blooded

Shark liver takes up 25% of their bodyweight. It stores the energy they need to swim long distances. The oil inside also helps with buoyancy, like an internal life vest. Great White Sharks eat an average of 11 tons of food a year. Though they can go as long as three months without eating.

In Borneo, to stop babies from crying, the saw from a sawfish shark is covered in cloth and hung over the cradle. [6]

Laura Signorelli

Ready to learn things you didn't know about sharks? You will be amazed by how special sharks really are.