Shark — Special Features:

The ‘great white shark’ is the province fish of East Java, Indonesia.

Sharks have been around the Earth since long before the dinosaurs – since 400 million years!

Sharks are cartilaginous, i.e. their inner skeleton is made of a tough but flexible substance called ‘cartilage’; and the large elongated body and the backbone part are supported by a horny substance that is found in hair and feathers!

Most fish swim forward and backward, but sharks can swim only forward; they cannot swim backward.  A shark must always move because its body is heavier than the water and so if it stops moving (swimming) it sinks!

Unlike other fish, sharks’ gill slits, through which they take in the oxygen that is in the water, are not covered!

Flesh-eating sharks have about 3,000 long or short sharp teeth in five rows arranged in the fleshy part of the jaw.   These teeth are not joined to the jaw bone, which is the normal tooth-structure in bony fish.  Sharks can re-grow any teeth that are damaged or broken – all the 3,000 teeth in a life time, if need be!

Sharks are very aggressive (formidable) hunters.  They also attack people, mostly the bathers and surfers in shallow waters!  Some animal experts are in the opinion that the ‘shark attacks’ are like the attacks of any predatory animal attacks, (snake bites, scorpion bites, dog bites, ray fish stings, jelly fish stings), and that they have been exaggerated more than the sharks actually deserve!

In fact, some large-bodied sharks are very timid as they are filter-feeders and feed only on very small animal and plant matter (zooplankton and plankton) found in water!!

Some sharks are very ferocious – the ‘cookie cutter shark’ is only 20 inches in size, but it can attack even the large whales!

Most shark species are found in salt waters, but there are a few species (kinds) that live in fresh water.  The ‘bull shark’ is found in fresh water as well as in salt water, and it is the most common of all sharks!

Some species of sharks do not migrate (= travel to distant places depending on the weather or the availability of food); some species migrate over 1000 miles (1600 Km.), and some even cross oceans!

Sharks are found in several stories, cartoons, and motion pictures (films/movies).  The ‘Jaws’ is the movie that actually brought the shark to limelight, but unfortunately for the sharks, as a man-eater!  The shark cartoons in the newspapers are mostly political oriented!

People have been using every part of a shark’s body for centuries:

fins and flesh:  as food; the soup made from the fins is a popular dish; and also used in fertilisers

skin: as sandpaper, and the hides are made into leather goods

cartilage: made into powder and used in medicines – in treating burns and in bio-chemicals

fins: dried fins are also used in folk medicine

liver:  cooked and eaten; and oil, which is full of vitamins, is extracted and taken as medicine

jaws & teeth: used in jewellery, and prized as a collector’s item

eye: to replace people’s damaged eyes with sharks eyes (eye implants) (?)

entrails: (stomach parts – intestines) in making fish meal for pet fish

live sharks: in scientific research and laboratory experiments; and in water-world entertainment parks

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