UPDATE

just letting you guys know i'll be away for a couple of day, (you know, as it is christmastide and all haha)

How does a shark breathe?


As with other fishes, sharks breathe by extracting oxygen when seawater passes through their gills.

Shark gills are just behind a sharks head and they are not specially covered, like in most fish.

Water pass thorough their gills while sharks are swimming making impossible for most of them to stay still as otherwise they would drown. This process is called ram ventilation.

Shark FAQ 7

How do sharks know when something is food or not?

Studies have proved that shark senses are fully responsible for shark hunting.

They commonly use the electrosense for location, even at long distances.

The lateral line sense detects water vibrations usual to most living things.(see left)

The smell and hearing are also used for confirmation, leaving the sight sense the last check when a prey is going to be hunt.

After all these sensorial scanning, sharks sometime even test their food if it is not familiar for them.

Shark FAQ 6

How do sharks find their food?

Sharks are provided with several extraordinary senses that help them find their prey.

This developed and accurate senses has made them very successful for 400 million years.

Usually they use their electrosense system to find prey from long distances.

Then when they are close, smell, hearing and visual senses are used for verifying that the prey is fine for food.


Great White Sharks can smell blood from 1kilometre off, now that's scary!

Shark FAQ 5

How do sharks communicate?


There is not solid evidence on how sharks communicate, however there is a great belief that the extraordinary senses developed by sharks are involved in any communication between sharks, if any.

Shark FAQ 4

Now, this post is not for the youngin's so if you don't want to know how sharks mate, don't read this!

How do sharks breed?

While some species breed differently.

Mating in sharks has been rarely observed (so no picture for all you perverts), but most species do it while they swim parallel to each other and the male inserts a clasper into female's oviduct.

There are three ways in which shark pups are born:

Oviparity.
Sharks lay eggs.

Viviparity
Sharks have placental links with developing pups. Pups born fully functional.

Ovoviviparity
Method used by most shark species.
Eggs develop inside the oviduct and hatch inside the oviduct where it finishes its development. Pups born fully functional.

Shark FAQ 3

How big is the Shark Brain?

While brain size cannot be generalized to every shark species, some of them have a Y shaped brain with two bulbs, measuring about 2 feet (60 centimeters)

Some writers have said that the shark brain is the size of a golf ball, but this is not accurate.

The brain mass to body mass ratio in sharks is much lower than humans, but a very good ratio even compared with some mammals.

In general, sharks have complex brains.

Shark FAQ 2

How big is the biggest recorded Whale Shark?

The Guinness Book of Records has the Worlds Largest fish (a Whale Shark) recorded as 12.65 metres which is 41 feet 6 inches.

However, there are versions that whale sharks could reach 60 feet, but they are not scientifically recorded.

Shark FAQ 1

How are Whale Sharks endangered?

The whale shark is targeted by commercial and artisan fisheries. This has put them in the list of endangered species.

Although the worldwide population is unknown, the reduction in sightings have put them in a vulnerable situation.

hey guys, thanks for all your support.

i was thinking of letting you, my followers and commenters decide, my content.

Should I:
(A) keep doing individual profiles
(B) have shark FAQ's (there pretty interesting)

just keep in mind, that I have already done a lot of profiles, and I am starting to run low :D

BLACKTIP REEF SHARK

it does well in captivity so is often found in aquariums (which is why we have so many photos of it)

usually blacktips are about 6 feet long.

it's markings are grey with a black tip on its fins and white streak on its side.

BLUE SHARK:

Blue sharks are about 12 feet long.

 they have an extremely sleek and tapered body, and due to this body structure, they are among the fastest swimming sharks and can even leap out of the water.

their diet consists mostly of squid, but it will eat almost anything.

be warned - considered dangerous - have attacked people.

BULL SHARK:

Bull Sharks are highly aggressive and are considered the third most dangerous to people

They are so dangerous because they can swim in salt and fresh water and have even been found in the Mississipi river.

COOKIECUTTER SHARK:

they are a small shark (less than 2 feet long)

but what they lack in size, they make up in sinister, as they can eat perfecty round chunks out of living whales and dolphins by clamping its teeth extremely sharp teeth onto them.

GOBLIN SHARK

they are very, very uncommon and likely the strangest looking shark (rarely seen)

it has pale, pinkish grey skin with a long pointed snout (it looks a bit like a sword on top of its head)

it is so rarely seen because it lives in very deep water.

it is so elusive until it was found off the coast of Japan in 1898... until that time it was believed to have been extinct for 100 million years


i would have a picture, but it is so rare that there aren't any :\

MAKO SHARK:

they are the fastest swimmer (43 miles per hour)

mako sharks are known to leap out of the water (sometimes into boats)

NURSE SHARK:

Nurse sharks are bottom dwelling sharks

they have thin, fleshy, whisker-like organs on the lower jaw in front of the nostrils that they use to touch and taste

 they hunt at night, sleep by day

they are quite docile (some divers kiss them) and are common at aquariums

BASKING SHARK:

it is the second largest shark (about 30 feet long and 8,000 pounds).

to eat it filters plankton from the water using "gill rakers".

sharks for you!

ANGEL SHARK

flat body like a stingray -- you can tell the shark is not a ray because the pectoral fins are not attached to the head.

They bury themselves in the sand or mud with only the eyes and part of the top of the body exposed.

They are bottom feeders, eating crustaceans like clams and mollusks and fish that are swimming close to the ocean floor

weird shark

Epaulet shark walks along the bottom with it’s fins and it can survive out of water for short periods.

evolution

Not only do the evolutionary features define the look of a shark, but also determine how they survive in the wild. Not all sharks will constantly be searching in a particular area of the ocean for their food. There are three general types of sharks that will move according to the form and function of their body. This includes some sharks that will move at the upper part of the ocean and will move at a slow pace, sharks that will be towards the middle of the ocean and will have a powerful force while swimming and sharks that stay at the bottom of the ocean, moving slowly and finding their food on the ocean floor.

Hammerheads part 2

 Hammerheads are found in tropical and temperate seas throughout the world, in both coastal and offshore waters. The smooth hammerhead is found around the entire coast of WA, but the great hammerhead and smooth hammerhead are rarely seen south of the Houtman Abrolhos Islands. The Montebello Islands Marine Park, the proposed Dampier Archipelago Marine Park and the Rowley Shoals Marine Park are great places to see them.

hammerheads part one

 Three species of hammerhead shark are found in north-western Australia but only one, the great hammerhead (Sphyrna mokarran), is considered dangerous. The scalloped hammerhead (Sphyrna lewini) and smooth hammerhead (Sphyrna zygaena) are quite timid and the similar-looking winghead shark (Eusphyra blochii) is considered harmless. Despite the fear they have traditionally engendered, public opinion is now slowly swinging around in the sharks’ favour. These days, most divers who see a hammerhead shark regard it as a rare and exciting experience. People are coming to realise that shark attacks are relatively rare (more people in Australia die from bee stings) and usually occur only when sharks mistake people for food species such as seals.

The biggest shark is the whale shark (Rhincodon or Rhiniodon typus), which can be up to 50 feet (15 m) long. It is a filter feeder and sieves enormous amounts of plankton to eat through its gills as it swims. It is also the biggest fish.

The second biggest fish and shark is the basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) which is about 40 feet (12.3 m) long and is another filter feeder.

The biggest meat-eating shark is the Great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) which grows to be up to 21 feet (6.4 m) long. Great whites up to 37 feet (11.3 m) long have been reported, but not verified.

smallest sharks

The smallest sharks are: 

Dwarf Lanternfish (Etmopterus perryi), which is about 7 1/2 to 8 inches (19 - 20 cm) long for fully-grown females and 6 to 7 inches (16 - 17.5 cm) long for adult males

Spined pygmy shark (Squaliolus laticaudus), which is about 8 inches (21 cm) long for fully-grown females and 7 inches (18 cm) long for males 

Pygmy ribbontail catshark (Eridacnis radcliffei) , which is about 6 to 7 inches (15 - 16 cm) long for fully-grown females and 7 to 7 1/2 inches (18 - 19 cm) long for males.

that is freaking small, i kinda wish i had one in a fish tank, it would be so cute, yet ferocious!

Normally, sharks eat alone.  But sometimes one feeding shark attracts others.  They swim up as quickly as possible and all begin to try to get a piece of the prey.  They bite wildly at anything that gets in their way -- even each other.


The great white shark rarely partakes in feeding frenzies.


Almost all sharks are "carnivores" or meat eaters.  They live on a diet of fish and sea mammals (like dolphins and seals) and even such prey as turtles and seagulls.

daily shark facts

Some sharks can't reproduce until the age of 20 or above.


There are 355 confirmed species of Shark ranging in length from 15cm to 15 meters.

A fossil of a "cladoelache" is determined to be the oldest known ancestor of the Sharks. It is 350 million years old.

MOAR shark facts

Sharks do not care for their babies after they are born

Two-thirds of a Sharks brain is dedicated to the sense of smell.

There are more reported attacks on humans by Great White Sharks than any other type of shark.

The Mako Shark is known to leap clear out of the water, and sometimes into boats.

The Whale Shark is the worlds biggest Shark and fish.

In Germany and Japan, shark skin was used on sword handles for a non-slip grip.

Great White Sharks can go up to three months without eating

More people are killed each year by pigs than by Sharks.

Around 20 to 100 million sharks are killed by humans each year.

Shark Facts

1.Sharks have been around for about 400 million years - long before dinosaurs even existed.
2.Sharks have the most powerful jaws on the planet.
3.Sharks never run out of teeth - when one is lost another spins forward from the rows of backup teeth.
4.A shark may use over 20,000 teeth during its life.
5.The Great White Shark rarely partakes in feeding frenzies.
6.Sharks will often eat other sharks.
7.A sharks skeleton is made of cartilage, allowing greater flexibility.
8.A sharks skin is made of denticles - similar to thousands of small shark teeth.
9.The most harmless sharks tend to be the largest, such as the Basking Shark, the Whale Shark and the Megamouth Shark.
10.There are only about 100 Shark attacks on humans each year, resulting in about 10 deaths.

that's all for today, more facts soon :)

which sharks really are dangerous?

There are 3 sharks that can be classified as 'most dangerous'

these are:

>>Tiger Shark
>>Great White Shark
>>Bull Shark

teeth

Shark teeth are embedded in the gums rather than directly affixed to the jaw, and are constantly replaced throughout life. Multiple rows of replacement teeth grow in a groove on the inside of the jaw and steadily move forward as in a "conveyor belt"; some sharks lose 30,000 or more teeth in their lifetime. The rate of tooth replacement varies from once every 8–10 days to several months. In most species teeth are replaced one at a time, except in cookiecutter sharks the entire row of teeth is replaced simultaneously.[7]
Tooth shape depends on diet: sharks that feed on mollusks and crustaceans have dense flattened teeth for crushing, those that feed on fish have needle-like teeth for gripping, and those that feed on larger prey such as mammals have pointed lower teeth for gripping and triangular upper teeth with serrated edges for cutting. The teeth of plankton-feeders such as the basking shark are smaller and non-functional.[8]

sharks

Sharks (superorder Selachimorpha) are a type of fish with a full cartilaginous skeleton and a highly streamlined body. The earliest known sharks date from more than 420 million years ago, before the time of the dinosaurs.^[1]

Since that time, sharks have diversified into 440 species, ranging in size from the small dwarf lanternshark, Etmopterus perryi, a deep sea species of only 17 centimetres (6.7 in) in length, to the whale shark, Rhincodon typus, the largest fish, which reaches approximately 12 metres (39 ft 4 in) and which feeds only on plankton, squid, and small fish by filter feeding. Sharks are found in all seas and are common down to depths of 2,000 metres (6,600 ft). They generally do not live in freshwater, with a few exceptions such as the bull sharkand the river shark which can live both in seawater and freshwater.^[2] They breathe through five to seven gill slits. Sharks have a covering of dermal denticles that protects their skin from damage and parasites, and improves their fluid dynamics so the shark can move faster. They have several sets of replaceable teeth.^[3]

Well-known species such as the great white shark, tiger shark, and the hammerhead are apex predators, at the top of the underwaterfood chain. Their extraordinary skills as predators fascinate and frighten humans, even as their survival is under serious threat from fishing and other human activities.