All about sharks!
by me :)
Diversity
There are over 500 species of sharks on Earth, varying in different sizes and shapes. The largest shark(and the largest fish) is the whale shark which can reach lengths of 39 feet! The smallest shark is the dwarf lantern shark which is only 8 inches long and is found in the waters off the coasts of Colombia and Venezuela.
Today, living sharks are grouped into nine orders, including cow sharks and carpet sharks.
Shark Anatomy
Sharks are elasmobranchs, meaning they have skeletons made of cartilage, the same material that makes up human noses and ears. Most fish have skeletons made of bone, but the sharks' cartilage is much lighter than bone and allows them to stay afloat and swim long distances while using less energy. Sharks also have several rows of teeth lining their jaws. These teeth are constantly shed and replaced throughout their lifetime, during which a shark can lose and replace thousands of teeth! However, different types of sharks have teeth with different purposes, for example, ranging from razor-sharp teeth for biting off chunks of prey to flatter teeth used for breaking the shells of shellfish. There are also filter feeding sharks that eat plankton and whose teeth aren't used for feeding.
Dangers to Sharks and How to Protect Them
An estimated 100 million sharks are killed every year by recreational and commercial fisheries. Threats like overfishing due to bycatch, trawling, and targeted fishing largely threaten shark populations. Large shark abundance decreased by 21 percent in the Pacific Ocean after industrial fishing began in the 1950s.
It's essential to raise awareness to protect sharks as they are invaluable to the ecosystems they thrive in. Remember that Blahajs are sharks too :) and we need to do everything we can to protect shark species in the wild from external threats. Visit https://ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/sharks-rays/sharks to learn more.