How long have sharks been in existence?
Sharks have been around for around 400 million years. That is even before the dinosaurs walked the earth. Sharks belong to the fish class called Chondrichthyes |
How many teeth does a Great White Shark have?
26 Triangular-shaped and serrated teeth in each row of the upper jaw with 24 more pointed teeth in the lower jaw rows. The Great White shark has about 3,000 teeth in multiple rows |
Can a shark re-grow teeth?
A shark can grow teeth repeatedly over its lifetime. It is said that sharks can use over 20,000 teeth in its lifetime. |
How do sharks feed?
Sharks normally attack and feed alone. They surprise their prey by swimming rapidly towards them and bite a piece. Sometimes sharks feed together in a frenzy and then they bite wildly at anything that gets in their way. Great White sharks however normally feed alone and don’t participate in a frenzy attack. |
Do sharks eat one another?
Some species of sharks are known to feed on other sharks as well as their normal prey of fish, dolphins and seals. |
Are all sharks carnivores?
Not all sharks eat meat. Some of the largest sharks just cruise around the ocean eating plankton. The type of sharks that eat plankton are; The Basking Shark; the Whale Shark and the Megamouth Shark |
Which species of shark are the most dangerous?
The most dangerous sharks are the Great White, the Tiger Shark, the Hammerhead Shark, the Mako Shark and the Bull Shark. These sharks are known to attack humans but there are only about 10 deaths a year. In fact, man kills more sharks than sharks kill man. I suppose men are a more dangerous predator than the shark. |
How many sharks are born from a single mother?
Sharks are born in three ways;
- They lay eggs that hatch
- They have eggs that hatch inside the female and then are born
- They grow “pups” (babies) inside like humans do
Sharks can have any number of pups up to one hundred depending on the type of shark. |
How to sharks detect their prey?
Sharks have a number of senses. Their main sense is smell. They also have keen eyesight which enables then to see through murky water. They also have a few unusual senses like being able to detect vibrations and electrical fields that emanate from their prey. |
What do sharks eat?
Besides fish and sea mammals, sharks that have been caught have had some strange items in their stomachs, such as-:
- Chickens
- Bottles
- Crabs
- Turtles
- Squids,
- Full grown dogs etc.
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Which shark is the strongest swimmer?
The Hammerhead shark is known to be one of the most powerful swimmers. The shake their head from side to side as they swim so that they can see better from their eyes that are located at the sides of their heads. |
How many embryos will a Female Great White Shark develop and how long is the gestation period?
The Great White Shark will carry 2 to 10 embryos each nourished by a yolk sac. They will feed on unfertilised eggs and smaller siblings in the womb. The gestation period is around 14 - 18 months and the great white shark pups are born live. The young sharks are between 1.1 and 1.65 m in length. The young fend for themselves immediately and get no help from their mother. |
