It’s perfectly normal to be scared of sharks, but it’s very unlikely that you will ever come face to face with one (unless you’re in an aquarium and there is a huge piece of glass between you and the shark!). But just because you may never shake hands with a shark, you can still read on...
There are more than 400 shark species in the world today. The spined pigmy shark is just 15cm long. The largest shark is the whale shark and it can grow to over 12 metres. Sharks live all over the world and at every depth in the ocean, but what makes them so different to other fish?
Most fish have skeletons made of bone, but sharks (and rays and chimeras) have skeletons made of cartilage. It is the same flexible material in your nose and ears. Sharks also have different skin to other fish. They don’t have large scales. They have smaller scales instead, called denticles.
A shark moves forward through the water by swinging its strong tail left and right. Sharks also have one or two fins on their back. These are called the dorsal fins and these are the fins you see sticking out from the water. The dorsal fins help the shark keep its balance. Sharks also have two sets of fins on either side of their bodies, which they use to move up and down in the water.
The one thing we think of when we think about sharks is their teeth. Most sharks have sharp teeth. The great white shark’s teeth have jagged edges to cut away at flesh and bone. Sharks’ teeth fall out all the time, but luckily for the sharks, each time a tooth falls out a new tooth grows in its place.
Unfortunately, many shark species are in danger of becoming extinct. This is very sad so click on this link to learn more about how we can save the endangered shark species:
http://www.sharktrust.org/sharkconservation.html
