1. In its lifetime, a shark can have up to 30,000 teeth. They are continuously being replaced and shifted within the mouth.
2. Whale sharks can live to be 100 years old.
3. Sharks are colorblind.
4. Sharks have been in existence for over 400 million years.
5. Sharks have no bones in their bodies. They are made of a rubbery tissue called cartilage.
6. There are 440 different species of sharks.
7. Sharks have a sense called electrosense, which is the ability to sense electric signals. This gives them an advantage when searching for prey.
8. Sharks are hypersensitive to pressure changes in the water. They can notice the slightest changes via specialized cells with tiny hairs in them.
9. Great white sharks can weigh up to 5,000 pounds.
10. Whale sharks are approximately the size of a school bus.
11. Tiger sharks, aka the “garbage cans” of the sea, will literally eat anything, which makes them particularly dangerous to humans.
12. Sharks can store food in their stomachs for months.
13. A shark’s skin is tough and thick because it is made of a protein called collagen. The whale shark’s skin can be up to 10 centimeters thick!
14. The female shark pregnancy can range from 5 months to 3.5 years, varying on the specific species.
15. If a shark embryo develops teeth, it will partake in intrauterine cannibalism, meaning it will eat its siblings inside the womb.
16. Female sharks tend to be larger than male sharks.
17. The bull shark is able to survive in freshwater.
18. A blue shark can carry up to 135 pups at once.
19. The thresher shark has a tail that can grow to about half its body length. The tail serves like a sword.
20. Sharks have a highly evolved sense of hearing, which allows them to hear low-frequency sounds from up to quarter-mile away.
21. Many sharks found in the depths of the ocean make their own flashlights via bioluminescence.
22. The epaulette shark can use its fins like legs, to walk, when the tide is too low to swim.
23. Young sharks spend seven years in a shallow water “nursery” where they grow and learn.
24. The odds of getting attacked and killed by a shark are 1 in 3,748,067.