Friday Fun Facts About Sharks

Tom EgelhoffPublished: May 30, 2014

BANYUWANGI, INDONESIA - MAY 25: A worker carries a shark at Muncar Port on May 25, 2014 in Banyuwangi, Indonesia. Indonesia has become one of the major exporters of meat and shark fins in the world, producing 640 thousand tons per year. The Indonesian government is tightening regulations for the fishing of sharks and manta rays, which are now included in the list of Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). (Photo by Robertus Pudyanto/Getty Images)

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Confession time. The movie “Jaws” scared the heck out of me and I lived in the middle of the US at the time. I was nowhere near the ocean.

Later in life I moved to San Diego, California where there are beautiful beaches. Go in the water?? Not a chance. Here are a few facts about sharks that might keep you out of the water too.

Fun Facts About Sharks

You’ll find those friendly smiling sharks in all of the Earth’s oceans so keep an eye out for fins.
Even deep sea diving isn’t safe. At 12,000 feet (over two miles down) you might encounter a Portuguese shark.
Over 60 percent of shark attacks take place in less than six feet of water.
Think staying close to shore will save you? As long as their back is under water, a nine-foot bull shark can swim easily in two feet of water.
Sharks like North American beaches like Florida and Hawaii. But Australia and South Africa are also popular shark spotting locations.
Sharks prefer to attack men rather than women. Ninety percent of all shark attacks involve men despite both sexes being in the water equally.
Sharks will eat almost anything. Things found in shark’s stomachs include shoes, chairs, half a horse, box of nails, a torpedo, drums and even a bottle of wine. You can’t beat a nice bottle of Chianti with a tasty torpedo.
Most sharks are harmful to humans except for the Great White, Bull, Tiger, Mako, and Hammerhead. Not sure I’ll hang around long enough for the species confirmation.
Telling the age of sharks is difficult since sharks have no bones.
Sharks have teeth — a lot of teeth. 40-45 to be exact with another 7 rows of teeth behind those. When a tooth is lost a new one is pushed forward to replace it. This only takes about a day to happen and just to make you feel better, each replacement will be bigger as the shark ages. We’re talking 30,000 teeth in a shark’s lifetime.
Two million sharks are killed for every human attacked by a shark.
Think you could handle a shark with a rod and reel? A fisherman caught a 17-foot, Great White weighing 2,664 pounds for the record catch with rod and reel. I want that guy for my security detail.
Sharks may hold a cancer cure. They rarely get cancer so scientists study shark cartilage trying to see if sharks hold the secret.

Some Final Thoughts

To ease your mind about being devoured by a shark on your way to work, I can tell you that you have a better chance of being killed by bees, or a lightening strike, than by a shark attack.

About 30 people worldwide are killed by sharks giving you about a one in 300 million chance of reaching shore without a problem. Shark attacks mostly occur when the shark mistakes a human for a seal or other form of prey.

Feel free to head out to Bozeman pond in safety. No sharks — I checked.