Shark Awareness Day

Today, the 14th of July, is Shark Awareness Day. This is a day created to shift attitudes around sharks and to raise awareness about their importance to the ocean, recognising the actions we can take to protect them.

Over 400 million years, sharks have thrived and prospered in the oceans, playing an instrumental role in maintaining our oceans and balancing the ecosystem. With over 1500 species of sharks in the ocean, there is a myriad of sharks having highly specialised roles or unique features.

For this Shark Awareness Day, here are 3 shark species you might not have heard of before!

1. Goblin Shark

Goblin sharks are a species of fish that usually live at the bottom of the ocean along the edges of continents, mostly being spotted off the coast of Japan.

With a narrow snout and fang-like teeth, these creatures get their name from their physical resemblance to the mythical goblins that appear in Japanese folklore.

These pink sharks can grow to more than 3.5 metres in length, and can weigh over 200 kilograms.

Their long and prominent snouts are covered in special sensing organs that can help them to sense electric fields in the deep waters they live in, and they have jaws that can be thrust 3 inches out of their mouths to catch prey!

2. Speartooth Shark (Glyphis glyphis)

The speartooth shark is a very species that can be found in both freshwater and saltwater, often being found on the bottom floors of rivers. These rare river sharks inhabit coastal marine waters and some macro-tidal river systems in tropical northern Australia and New Guinea.

Loving turbid (thick with suspended matter) waters, these sharks are primarily fish-eaters, and can grow to 2-3 metres long. They have become extremely endangered lately, with no more than 2500 mature individuals left globally and no more than 250 in any sub population.

3. Megamouth Shark

The megamouth shark is the smaller of the 3 filter shark species recorded, feeding on planktonic prey which leaves them to hunt with their mouth wide open to filter their prey from the deep ocean.

They are typically found near Australia, Taiwan and Japan, hiding in the depths of the ocean. To help with filtering, megamouth sharks are slow swimmers, and scientists believe that their lips are bioluminescent to attract smaller plankton and shellfish.

Happy Shark Awareness Day!

-Norman, 16

Photos sourced from:

• https://www.sciencefocus.com/nature/what-is-a-goblin-shark

• https://www.nespmarine.edu.au/news/sampling-speartooth-sharks-remote-lower-ord-river

• https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/wildlife/2017/08/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-megamouth-shark/