Some of the amazing facts about Sharks

Sharks are one of the most amazing animals on earth. They have lived in this planet for more than 450 million years and that each single fact is worthy of knowing.

1. Between 30 and 80 percent of a shark’s flesh is made of water. A protein network gives the flesh its structure.
2. Almost 50 different species of sharks have light-emitting organs called photospheres. Sharks use the light that comes from these organs for camouflage and to attract mates.
3. Shark teeth are popular and often inexpensive beach souvenirs. Sharks shed their teeth constantly, and once one falls to the ocean floor, it’s quickly covered with sand. It soaks up sediments like silica and calcite, which change the tooth’s color from white to gray or brown.
4. While many people fear sharks and think of them as one of the world’s most aggressive and deadly animals, the chances of dying from a shark attack fall well below the chances of being killed by hornets, wasps, bees or dogs.
5. A few of the known shark species will drown if they stop moving. Great white, mako and salmon sharks don’t have the muscles they need to pump water through their mouth and over their gills. As long as they keep swimming, water keeps moving over their gills, keeping them alive.
6. The average shark lives to be 25 years old, but some can get as old as 100! They live so long because their chances of contracting a disease are low. Their skeleton is made up entirely of cartilage, which drastically lowers the likelihood of developing a tumor and strengthens their immunity.
7. Although it’s heavily fictionalized, the film Jaws was based on a real incident in 1916, in which four people were killed by a shark off the New Jersey coastline.
8. Great white sharks eat 11 tons of food a year! Compare that to a human being: Each of us eats closer to half a ton of food every year.
9. Think you have to be swimming in the ocean to meet a shark? Think again. Bull sharks have a fondness for freshwater. They’ve been spotted in bays, lagoons and even rivers, sometimes thousands of miles inland.
10. What’s older than sharks? Almost nothing. Sharks have been swimming in the ocean for more than 400 million years. They predate practically everything that has a spine, including humans and dinosaurs.
11. While many of us have learned to fear sharks, they’re the ones who should fear us. People are sharks’ biggest predator. In fact, humans kill more than 73 million sharks annually.
12. Sharks can generate up to 40,000 pounds per square inch of pressure in a single bite. That’s easily enough to chomp a meaty limb right off.
13. Sharks have an astounding sense of smell, so powerful that they can detect a single drop of blood in an Olympic-sized pool.
14. In the extremely rare event that a shark bites you, it probably won’t take a second taste. In attacks on humans, sharks typically bite, hold on for a few seconds and then let go once they realize they’re not tasting a sea creature.
15. Sound waves travel fast and far in water, so sharks have no trouble picking up low-pitched noises from movements such as fish schools, swimmers and even Coast Guard helicopters flying low over the ocean.