Friday Fun Facts About Sharks
Confession time. The movie “Jaws” scared the heck out of me and I lived in the middle of the US at the time. I was nowhere near the ocean.
Later in life I moved to San Diego, California where there are beautiful beaches. Go in the water?? Not a chance. Here are a few facts about sharks that might keep you out of the water too.
Fun Facts About Sharks
- You’ll find those friendly smiling sharks in all of the Earth’s oceans so keep an eye out for fins.
- Even deep sea diving isn’t safe. At 12,000 feet (over two miles down) you might encounter a Portuguese shark.
- Over 60 percent of shark attacks take place in less than six feet of water.
- Think staying close to shore will save you? As long as their back is under water, a nine-foot bull shark can swim easily in two feet of water.
- Sharks like North American beaches like Florida and Hawaii. But Australia and South Africa are also popular shark spotting locations.
- Sharks prefer to attack men rather than women. Ninety percent of all shark attacks involve men despite both sexes being in the water equally.
- Sharks will eat almost anything. Things found in shark’s stomachs include shoes, chairs, half a horse, box of nails, a torpedo, drums and even a bottle of wine. You can’t beat a nice bottle of Chianti with a tasty torpedo.
- Most sharks are harmful to humans except for the Great White, Bull, Tiger, Mako, and Hammerhead. Not sure I’ll hang around long enough for the species confirmation.
- Telling the age of sharks is difficult since sharks have no bones.
- Sharks have teeth — a lot of teeth. 40-45 to be exact with another 7 rows of teeth behind those. When a tooth is lost a new one is pushed forward to replace it. This only takes about a day to happen and just to make you feel better, each replacement will be bigger as the shark ages. We’re talking 30,000 teeth in a shark’s lifetime.
- Two million sharks are killed for every human attacked by a shark.
- Think you could handle a shark with a rod and reel? A fisherman caught a 17-foot, Great White weighing 2,664 pounds for the record catch with rod and reel. I want that guy for my security detail.
- Sharks may hold a cancer cure. They rarely get cancer so scientists study shark cartilage trying to see if sharks hold the secret.
Some Final Thoughts
To ease your mind about being devoured by a shark on your way to work, I can tell you that you have a better chance of being killed by bees, or a lightening strike, than by a shark attack.
About 30 people worldwide are killed by sharks giving you about a one in 300 million chance of reaching shore without a problem. Shark attacks mostly occur when the shark mistakes a human for a seal or other form of prey.
Feel free to head out to Bozeman pond in safety. No sharks — I checked.