It’s a hot summer day and you’re about to head to the beach. The sky is blue, the waves are perfect, the children are building elaborate sand castles on the beach and people are lathering on sunscreen. You have one foot in the water about to head out into waist high water, but then you remember your irrational fear of sharks. All of the news reports you’ve seen about shark attacks in just the past week don’t help you overcome your fear. And Jaws. Who could forget about the movie Jaws?! In your mind, all sharks are man-eating machines.
Slow down; labeling all sharks as “man-eating machines” is as bad as labeling all teenagers as rebellious punks. Here are 11 facts about sharks that could possibly change your mind.
1. Not all sharks are man eaters.
When you hear about a shark attack, the culprit is normally from a small handful of sharks. Out of over the 375 sharks identified, only about 12 are harmful to humans. Some sharks are even presented at aquariums to pet and interact with. One such shark is the common Nurse Shark. The Nurse Shark is often found in ocean reefs, and when divers approach them, the shark does not seem to mind.
2. There are only three sharks whose attacks on humans are in the double digits.
The Great White, Tiger Shark and the Bull Shark are the most prominent sharks to attack humans. These sharks are responsible for over half the shark attacks in the world. While these three sharks are commonly known for attacks, the Oceanic Whitetip has probably killed more castaways that have not been recorded.
3. Sharks play an important role in the ecosystem.
Sharks are at the top of the ecosystem in the ocean. Many scientist consider sharks to be a “keystone” species, and removing them would collapse the food chain. Sharks often hunt old, sick or weak fish, which helps to keep the fish population healthier. Some sharks even scavenge the ocean floor and remove dead organisms. The point is, the ecosystem needs sharks.
4. Sharks have been in the ocean for over 400 million years.
To put that into perspective, humans have only inhabited the earth for 200,000 years. Some sharks were discovered to exist during the Devonian Age. Sharks have survived four of the five extinction events. The sharks that existed then looked extremely different than the sharks that exist today.
5. Humans kill more than 100 million sharks a year.
Humans are a sharks biggest predator. A popular type of shark hunting is called Finning. Finning is when a shark is caught and the fins are cut off the shark and the body is thrown back into the ocean. Shark Finning is illegal in the United States, but has not yet been eliminated from all countries.
6. Sharks will drown if they stop moving.
Sharks have to keep moving to keep water flowing through their gills. They don’t have the muscles necessary to pump water through their gills when they aren't moving. Even when sharks are sleeping they continue to move in order to keep water moving. As long as the shark continues to swim, then they will continue to survive.
7. Poking a shark's eye may not fend it off.
The common myth is that when a shark is attacking, you should poke or punch it in the eyes to get it away from you. That may be farther from the truth. Some sharks have a Nictitating Membrane that protects the shark's eyes when it is biting into prey. If a shark is attacking you, then the best idea is to punch the shark in the gills or on the nose. Those two places are the most sensitive spots on a shark.
8. Amity Island in Jaws was based off of two very real islands.
Jaws was the beach-side thriller set on Amity Island in the 1970’s about a vicious man-eating shark. Amity Island is not an actual island, but is based off of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Island, which is located off the coast of Massachusetts. The movie was filmed on Martha’s Vineyard.
9. Sharks can get cancer.
A common misconception is that sharks are immune to cancer, but this belief is not true. Even though sharks can get cancer, they do have a shield against cancer and are less likely to get cancer than humans. Sharks have a high amount of a hormone called Aniogenin, which causes blood vessels to branch and surround the tumor to carry away waste products. Human infants possess the same antibodies as sharks, but lose them as they grow up and encounter more pathogens. One day, sharks may be the answer to stopping cancer, HIV and AIDs in humans.
10. Sharks have incredible nostrils.
While it’s not true that sharks can smell a drop of blood in the entire ocean, they still can smell a small amount of blood in a large amount of water. Some sharks can smell a drop of blood in an Olympic-size pool. Other sharks can detect blood hundreds of meters away, which is the length of several football fields.
